SUICIDE BOMBER KILLS 10 WEST OF BAGHDAD. US MARINE KILLED

BAGHDAD -- A suicide bomber blew himself up at a police checkpoint west of Baghdad on Saturday, killing at least 10 people including the local police chief, an official said

The U.S. military also said an American Marine died Friday in a non-combat related incident in Iraq, pushing the number of Americans killed this month to 21 as May draws to a close.

By KIM GAMEL ; Associated Press Writer Published: May 31st, 2008 03:18 PM Updated: May 31st, 2008 03:19 PM
http://www.thenewstribune.com/tacoma/24hour/iraq/story/377142.html
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Fearing more attacks, authorities imposed a vehicle ban and closed all entrances to the targeted town of Hit.

The attacker detonated his explosives belt after approaching the checkpoint, which was near a bridge, at about 9 p.m., said the town's administrator, Hikmat Jubeir.

Jubeir said six policemen were among those killed, including the town's police chief Col. Khalil Ibrahim. Four civilians also were killed and 12 other people were wounded, he said.

Hit, 85 miles west of Baghdad, is in Anbar province, which was the center of the Sunni-led insurgency before local tribal leaders joined forces with the U.S. military against al-Qaida in Iraq, a key factor in a steep drop in violence nationwide.

The town itself was among a series of communities along the Euphrates River used by al-Qaida and other insurgent groups to smuggle weapons, ammunition and fighters from Syria southeast toward Baghdad.
The bombing was a grim reminder of the dangers that continue to face Iraqis despite the recent security gains.

It raised the number of Iraqis killed in May to at least 532, the lowest monthly death toll this year, according to an Associated Press tally compiled from Iraqi police and military reports.

In political developments, loyalists of radical Shiite cleric Muqtada al-Sadr stepped up their opposition to a long-term security deal being negotiated between the Iraqi government and the United States.

Senior Sadrists, including lawmakers Falah Hassan Shanshal and Maha Adel al-Douri, met in the cleric's Sadr City office in Baghdad and called on the Iraqi government to stop the negotiations and to hold a public referendum on the issue.

Al-Sadr, the hardline Shiite cleric whose Mahdi Army militia battled U.S.-Iraqi troops in Baghdad's Sadr City district until a truce this month, also has called for a referendum along with weekly protests against the deal.

Widespread opposition among the Sadrists and other Shiite and Sunni groups has raised doubts that negotiators can meet a July target to finalize a pact to keep U.S. troops in Iraq after the current U.N. mandate expires at the end of the year.

Although U.S. officials insist they are not seeking permanent bases, suspicion runs deep among many Iraqis that the Americans want to keep at least some troops in the country for many years.

Tensions also rose when Nassar al-Rubaie, the leader of the Sadrist bloc in parliament, was stopped at a police checkpoint outside Diwaniyah, south of Baghdad.

The six-car convoy, en route from Basra to the holy city of Najaf, was held up for nearly two hours without explanation, al-Rubaie told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. He called for the government to stop harassing Sadrists and put those responsible on trial.

Police Col. Asaad Ali, the director of the Diwaniyah operations center, said police stopped the convoy because gunmen are not allowed in the city and al-Rubaie was protected by armed guards. He said a patrol was sent to safely escort the convoy on its way out of the province.
Despite the truce, the U.S. military has continued to target what it calls Iranian-backed Shiite militia factions, warning key leaders have fled to other areas as American and Iraqi forces closed in on them in Sadr City.

American troops acting on tips in eastern Baghdad on Saturday captured a suspect believed to be a key assistant to one of the fugitive militia leaders, according to a military statement. The man captured was accused of kidnapping and managing funds for the so-called special groups.

ABC NEWS AND AP REPORT IRAQ DEATHS DOWN, BUT FOR HOW LONG?

Iraq Deaths Down, but for How Long?
Iraq deaths down to lowest monthly level in 4 years, but will the trend last?
By ROBERT H. REID Associated Press Writer
The Associated Press
BAGHDAD

http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4970162

U.S. military deaths plunged in May to the lowest monthly level in more than four years and civilian casualties were down sharply, too, as Iraqi forces assumed the lead in offensives in three cities and a truce with Shiite extremists took hold.

But many Iraqis as well as U.S. officials and private security analysts are uncertain whether the current lull signals a long-term trend or is simply a breathing spell like so many others before.

U.S. commanders also warn the relative peace is fragile because no lasting political agreements have been reached among the Shiite, Sunni and Kurdish communities.

Talks on returning Sunnis to the government broke down this week, and tensions among rival Shiite parties remain high despite a May 11 truce that ended weeks of bloody fighting in Baghdad's Sadr City district.

Iraqis have experienced lulls in the past — notably after the January 2005 elections — only to see violence flare again.

Click here for full story: http://abcnews.go.com/International/wireStory?id=4970162

IRAQI CHILDREN PLAYING SOCCER BLOWN UP BY BOMB

BAGHDAD, May 30 (Reuters) - One Iraqi child was killed and two wounded on Friday when a group of children playing soccer picked up a bomb and it exploded, police said.

Reuters North American News Service
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=191003


The children, aged about 5 or 6, were playing near a rubbish dump in Baquba, 65 km (40 miles) northeast of Baghdad, when they spotted a strange object, police said.
When they picked it up, the home-made device exploded.
Relatives brought the injured children to a local hospital, where they lay in bed, bandaged and blood-spattered.

WHEN McCAIN GOES TO IRAQ HE BETTER STAY AWAY FROM THESE CITIES AND PROVINCES

Before providing the list of cities and provinces Sen. John McCain better stay away from when he travels to Iraq to prove once again how "wonderful" things are going in Iraq, we will prove you with information of the latest US casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan. Remember: Click on the part in "BLUE" and you will get additional information on each topic or death of an American.

Source: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

War News for Saturday, May 31, 2008
MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Multi-National Force – West Marine in a non-combat related incident in Iraq on Friday, May 30th. No other details were released and the incident is under investigation.

The Washington Post is reporting the death of a coalition soldier from a suicide car bomb in the eastern Afghan Nangarhar province on Saturday, May 31st. Six other people including three civilians and three soldiers were wounded in the attack. The military has not yet confirmed the death.May 29 airpower summary:

Reported Security incidents:Baghdad:#1: U.S. forces said they captured a key "special groups" suspect in eastern Baghdad. The suspect is accused of involvement in kidnappings and managing funds for the special groups.
#2: Gunmen on a motor bike kidnapped a 10 year old girl at Zayuna neighborhood (east Baghdad).
#3: A roadside bomb was defused by the Iraqi army in the Mansour neighborhood (west Baghdad) near a restaurant .No casualties or damage were reported.
Diyala Prv:#1: Gunmen assassinated the head of the Diyala morgue, Ahmed Foad, at Al-Sada, a town northeast of Baquba.
Baquba:#1: Three civilians were killed and seven others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near a passenger mini-bus in central Baaquba on Saturday, police said.A roadside bomb exploded at the local market in downtown Baquba near a dentists’ clinic. Two people were killed, and eight others were injured
#2: A mortar round killed a woman and wounded three people, including a child, when it landed on a house in a village just east of Baquba, police said.
Nassiriya:#1: Three rockets wounded two U.S. soldiers when they landed on their base in Nassiriya, 300 km (185 miles) southeast of Baghdad, police said.
Basra:#1: Gunmen killed an off-duty police officer near his home in Dair neighbourhood in north Basra, 420 km (260 miles) south of Baghdad, police said.

Afghanistan:#1: Afghan and NATO officials say a bomb attack against a convoy of international troops has wounded four soldiers and four Afghans in eastern Afghanistan. Maj. Martin O'Donnell, a spokesman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force, confirmed the soldiers were wounded in Saturday's attack. He says it's not yet clear whether it was an improvised explosive device or a suicide car bomb. Interior Ministry spokesman Zemeri Bashary says the blast in the eastern city of Jalalabad wounded four Afghans and damaged five civilian vehicles. Bashary said the attack was a suicide car bomb.
#2: An Afghan district governor for Mezan district in southern Zabul and his bodyguard were killed by unknown gunmen in Qalat, the provincial capital on Friday night, police official Abdul Matin said. He said Mohammad Younus, the district governor, was shot dead in front of his house, adding that they had started a search operation to track down the assailants, reported dpa.
#3: Canadian troops have swept through a volatile district west of Kandahar in an operation designed to ferret out nests of insurgents. The four-day swing, code-named Operation Rolling Thunder, was conducted alongside Afghan government forces. The operation saw several firefights in Zhari district, long a hotbed of Taliban activity. No Canadian casualties were reported Friday by military officials who released information about the operation. An unknown number of militants were believed killed in the operation.
#4: Unknown gunmen on Friday shot dead two local tribesmen in Shar-i-Nau area of neighbouring Afghanistan`s Paktia province. Sources said the two men identified as Syed Muhammad Ibrahim and Gulab Hussain were on way to their hometown Parachinar when armed assailants intercepted their vehicle in Shar-i-Nau area of Paktia.
#5: One Afghan soldier was killed and two others wounded when they came under fire from insurgents at a military checkpoint on Friday in Sangin District in the southern province of Helmand, the defence ministry said in a statement on Saturday.

HOW THE PENTAGON SHAPES THE WORLD (A MUST READ)

There are few more important stories we have ever posted on this blog than this one. It shows how the Bush administration manipulated the Pentagon into a massive complex with tentacles stretching not only into Iraq and Afghanistan, but around the world.

This is a MUST READ story for all who wonder what is going to happen after the next President takes office.

DISPATCHES FROM AMERICA
How the Pentagon shapes the world
By Frida Berrigan
http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JE31Df04.html

A full-fledged cottage industry is already focused on those who eagerly await the end of the George W Bush administration, offering calendars, magnets and t-shirts for sale as well as counters and graphics to download onto blogs and websites. But when the countdown ends and Bush vacates the Oval Office, he will leave a legacy to contend with.

Certainly, he wills to his successor a world marred by war and battered by deprivation, but perhaps his most enduring legacy is now deeply embedded in Washington-area politics - a Pentagon metastasized almost beyond recognition.

The Pentagon's massive bulk-up these past seven years will not be easily unbuilt, no matter who dons the presidential mantle on January 19, 2009. "The Pentagon" is now so much more than a five-sided building across the Potomac from Washington or even the seat of the Department of Defense. In many ways, it defies description or labeling.

Click on link to read this fascinating story http://www.atimes.com/atimes/South_Asia/JE31Df04.html

WHAT WAS McCAIN SAYING? IED BLAST IN BAAQUBA KILLS 3 INJURES 7

IED blast leaves 10 casualties in Baaquba

Diala - Voices of Iraq
Saturday , 31 /05 /2008 Time 4:10:24
http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=80927&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

Diala, May 31, (VOI) – Three civilians were killed and seven others wounded when an improvised explosive device (IED) went off near a passenger mini-bus in central Baaquba on Saturday, police said.

"An IED blast targeted a mini-bus near a terminal in central Baaquba, leaving three civilian passengers killed and seven others wounded," a source from Diala police, who asked not to have his name revealed, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq – (VOI).Baaquba, the capital of Diala province, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

HOT NEW YOUTUBE VIDEO CATCHES McCAIN SPINNING THE TRUTH ABOUT IRAQ

The hottest video in the United States is the NEW YouTube video showing Sen. John McCain, the Republican candidate for President, caught in what only can be described as a gaggle of lies if not outright "spinning" about his recent visit to IRAQ.

Watch the NEW video here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GEtZlR3zp4c

U.S. MARINES: IRAQ WAR: KILL INSURGENTS (WARNING GRAPHIC NEW VIDEO)

The war in Iraq continues even though you would never know it from watching TV or reading the newspapers. This NEW video with music captures a U.S. Marine combat patrol in action.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Mz4mSq745nw

IRAQ WAR VIDEO: MUSIC BY SLAYER-CULT

According to all the media and to the Bush administration, the war in Iraq is nothing but a cakewalk these days but the truth of the matter there is still plenty of fighting going on and young Americans are caught right in the middle of this civil war that will go on for decades.

This Iraq War music video is graphic and captures the true feeling of war with music by Slayer-Cult.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=swlBFLwEslE

IRAQ ANTI WAR VIDEO: NOT RECOMMENDED FOR THOSE UNDER 18

The music asks; "What's so civil about war anyway?" The answer can be seen in the faces of the women, children and parents of Iraqis caught in the middle of a civil war in Iraq that gets so little coverage by the American media.

BE SURE AND STAY WITH THE MUSIC VIDEO PAST THE DEMONSTRATION MARCHES TO SEE THE PAIN ON THE FACES OF THE IRAQI PEOPLE AND THEIR CHILDREN WHO DID NOTHING TO HAVE THE BUSH ADMINISTRATION UNLEASH A WAR ON THEIR COUNTRY.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wKG9T1xPwY

MARINE SNIPERS IN IRAQ: (VIDEO WITH RAW LANGUAGE)

This video Marine snipers in Iraq is taken from a series of videos titled "Everyday is Monday."
The video shows a Marine combat patrol and snipers firing at an enemy combatant. Warning:
The language is the language of men in a war zone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SwNl336L3F4

US SNIPERS IN IRAQ (VIDEO-MUSIC BY METALLICA)

The video show US snipers in action in Iraq. Video accompanied with music by Metallica.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Keu8Y-mJry4

111 NATIONS SIGN CLUSTER BOMB TREATY, BUT NOT U.S.

Diplomats from 111 nations formally adopted a landmark treaty banning cluster bombs on Friday after futile calls for participation by the weapons' biggest makers and users, particularly the United States.

By SHAWN POGATCHNIKAssociated Press Writer
http://www.kansascity.com/449/story/642327.html

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged every nation in the world to sign the painstakingly negotiated pact "without delay."

Twelve days of negotiations ended after diplomats from scores of nations delivered speeches embracing the accord. It requires signatories not to use cluster bombs, to destroy existing stockpiles within eight years, and to fund programs that clear old battlefields of dud bombs.

However, the talks did not involve the biggest makers and users of cluster bombs: the United States, Russia, China, Israel, India and Pakistan. And the pact leaves the door open for new types that could pick targets more precisely and contain self-destruct technology.

SUICIDE BOMBERS WRECK ALL THE PRAISE ABOUT HOW WELL THINGS ARE GOING IN IRAQ

Praise for Iraq marred by suicide-bomber attacks

WORLD leaders, including UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, have hailed Iraq's "remarkable" progress in easing violence.

http://www.theaustralian.news.com.au/story/0,25197,23785281-2703,00.html

But the declaration by 100 international delegations in Stockholm was clouded yesterday after a suicide bomber smashed a police base in the north and another blew up a patrol, killing 20 people as a pro-government militia killed 15 suspected al-Qa'ida fighters.

A man wearing an explosives-packed jacket blew himself up at police headquarters in Sinjar, a town on the road to Syria from the main northern city of Mosul. A hospital source said 17 people were killed and 30 wounded.

The surge in violence came as the US military announced plans to withdraw 4000 more troops after saying violence was at a four-year low.

The US army also confirmed 115 soldiers on active duty committed suicide last year, the most in one year since records started in 1980. Nearly a thousand soldiers attempted suicide.

The spike came amid the highest US casualties in Iraq and increased violence in Afghanistan, but officials said the trend had continued into this year.

THOUSANDS OF SHIITES PROTEST LONG TERM PRESENCE OF US IN IRAQ

This AP story has major implications for American troops in Iraq. If the split continues between the Shiites and the Iraqi government it could mean more and more US troops are going to be targeted in the weeks and months to come.

It boggles my mind that the mainstream media doesn't consider this a major development.

BAGHDAD (AP) Tens of thousands of Shiites have taken to the streets in Baghdad and other cities to protest plans for a long-term security agreement with the United States.
The rallies after Friday prayer services are the first to follow a call by anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr for weekly protests against the deal, which could lead to a long-term American troop presence.

The Associated Press(Updated Friday, May 30, 2008, 10:58 AM)
http://dwb.fresnobee.com/24hour/world/story/3892225p-13574542c.html

The outcry could sharply heighten tensions over the proposal. The deal is supposed to be finished by July and replace the current U.N. mandate overseeing U.S.-led troops in Iraq.
Demonstrators in Baghdad's Sadr City district chanted "No to America! No to the occupation!" A statement from al-Sadr's office has called the negotiations "a project of humiliation for the Iraqi people."

O'REILLY GOES NUTS OVER NBC/MSBNC BIAS (MUST SEE VIDEO)

Fox News' Bill O'Reilly has finally let MSNBC's Keith Olberman, host of "Countdown," get to him and in this video O'Reilly blows his top with former CBS newsman Bernard Goldberg and Fox News Watch panelist Jane Hall.

O'Reilly says Tim Russert, host of NBC's "Meet the Press," is nothing more than a left-wing mouthpiece and he even goes so far as to say Russert will be soft on former White House press secretary Scott McClellan when he guests on "Meet the Press" this coming Sunday.

McClellan has written a tell all book that has zoomed to the top of the best selling charts. In the book, McClellan describes how the Bush administration ignored any intelligence which would stop them in their rush to go to war with Iraq.

McClellan also feels he was lied to by Karl Rove and "Scooter" Libby over the CIA Valerie Plame case when they told him they had nothing to do with "leaking" her name to the media.

You can see Bill O'Reilly go ballistic here: http://youtube.com/watch?v=v2t156yd8s4

MSNBC'S CHRIS MATTHEWS TELLS HARVARD AUDIENCE HIS BOSSES WERE PRO IRAQ WAR

The Fever Breaks at MSNBC

http://www.prwatch.org/taxonomy/term/86/9

Hardball host Chris Matthews admitted in a speech at Harvard’s Institute of Politics on Monday that MSNBC bosses were "basically pro-war during the war."

His remark came during a discussion of top-down editorial control at the network, which Matthews denied existed.

MARINE SAYS HE WAS ORDERED TO DELETE PICTURES OF IRAQI WOMEN AND CHILDREN KILLED BY US FORCES

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - A Marine who took pictures of Iraqi men, women and children killed by U.S. forces testified Thursday that he deleted the photos under an officer's orders and later lied repeatedly to investigators about what happened to the images.

By CHELSEA J. CARTER, Associated Press Writer Thu May 29, 9:08 PM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080530/ap_on_re_us/marines_haditha

The testimony by Staff Sgt. Justin Laughner came during the court-martial of 1st Lt. Andrew Grayson, who is accused of helping cover up the Nov. 19, 2005, killings in Haditha, Iraq.

Laughner said he took the photos of the bodies hours after a roadside bomb hit a convoy, killing the driver of a Humvee and wounding two Marines.

After the bombing, investigators say, Staff Sgt. Frank Wuterich and a squad member shot five men by a car at the scene. Wuterich then allegedly ordered his men into several houses, where they cleared rooms with grenades and gunfire, killing the Iraqis. In all, 24 men, women and children died.

Laughner testified that Grayson told him to delete the photos. He admitted during questioning by a defense attorney that he lied to five different investigators about what happened to the photographs.

"I wasn't truthful with them because I knew I had already deleted them," he said. "I felt that I had done something wrong."

Laughner also said during cross-examination that he did not know he had been violating military law when he stored photos of the dead Iraqis on his personal laptop computer.

Four enlisted Marines were initially charged with murder in the case and four officers were charged with failing to investigate the deaths. Charges were dropped against five of the Marines but remain against Grayson, Wuterich and Lt. Col. Jeffrey Chessani.

All three say they are innocent. Grayson, of Springboro, Ohio, is the first to go to trial.
Grayson was not present at the scene of the killings, but is accused of obstruction of justice among other charges for allegedly ordering Laughner to delete the photographs.

Click on link above for complete story of Marine testimony.

CNN REPORTER SAYS MSNBC BOSSES TOLD HER TO BE PATRIOTIC IN RUN-UP TO IRAQ WAR

CNN reporter talks of pressure to be patriotic
CNN reporter says she felt pressure while at NBC News to do positive war stories

DAVID BAUDERAP News
May 29, 2008 17:35 EST
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=189927

CNN correspondent Jessica Yellin said Thursday she was referring to her time spent at MSNBC when she said she felt pressure not to report stories critical of the Bush administration during the time leading up to the Iraq war.

Yellin's initial comments, made during a discussion with Anderson Cooper on CNN Wednesday, shifted attention to the news media's performance following release of a critical assessment of the Bush administration by former White House Press Secretary Scott McClellan. He wrote that Bush's strategy for selling the war was less than candid and honest.

During her CNN appearance, Yellin said the press corps was under enormous pressure from corporate executives to make sure the war was presented "in a way that was consistent with the patriotic fever in the nation and the president's high approval ratings."

VIDEO YOU MUST SEE: TROOPS IN IRAQ TALK ABOUT HALLIBURTON AND KBR ABUSES

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=chXjCtkymRQ&feature=relat...

As most people know, Vice President Dick Cheney was once the CEO of Halliburton and its subsidiary KBR which now are making huge profits supposedly providing US troops in Iraq food, water and various other services.

This shocking video which everyone should see shows GIs in Iraq talking about the abuses of Halliburton and KBR in Iraq for the troops, but also all the perks the Halliburton and KBR employees enjoy at US taxpayer's expense.

This is a video you will never see on FOX NEWS, but is a video you should not only see but tell all your friends about how Cheney's old company is shafting the American troops in Iraq and taking millions of taxpayer dollars for doing virtually nothing in Iraq.

Incidentally, it has been alleged Vice President Cheney never completely divested himself from all of his Halliburton/KBR stock and he has it in holdings outside of the United States.

CLICK ON LINK ABOVE OR THIS LINK: http://current.com/items/88987007_us_troops_in_iraq_talk_about_halliburton_kbr

CNN REPORTS ARMY SUICIDES AT HIGHEST POINT IN TWO DECADES

Story Highlights
More soldiers killed selves in 2007 than since first Gulf War, Pentagon report says
More than 40 percent of suicides occurred stateside, report indicates
Military is set to announce the findings officially later Thursday

From Barbara StarrCNN Pentagon Correspondent
http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/29/army.suicides/index.html

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- More U.S. soldiers committed suicide in 2007 than at any time since the first Gulf War, according to an Army study to be released later Thursday.

There were 108 suicides last year, up from 102 the year before. The 2006 figure also was itself the highest since 1990
.
More than two in five of the suicides came after soldiers returned home from deployments.
The military is set to announce the findings officially later Thursday. CNN obtained some statistics from the study before publication. Watch what CNN's Barbara Starr found out »

Roughly one in four of the soldiers who killed themselves were on their first deployments, according to the study. About the same percentage killed themselves without ever having been deployed. Forty-three percent committed suicide after coming home.

The statistics cover active-duty Army troops, including National Guard and reserve soldiers. The numbers do not account for other branches of service.

There are 1,075,000 troops serving in the Army, according to the Department of Defense, comprising 525,000 on active duty, 194,000 in the Army Reserve and the Army National Guard's 356,000.

The Army recorded 87 suicides in 2005, 67 in 2004 and 79 in 2003, the year the Iraq war began. The war in Afghanistan began in October 2001.

It is difficult to compare the military suicide rate with that of the private sector because of demographic differences and overall human stress factors, officials have said.

According to a Pentagon report released last summer, the overall suicide rate for the United States was 13.4 per 100,000 people in 2006.

For all men ages 17 to 45, it was 21.1 per 100,000 people, compared with 17.8 for men in the Army.

And it was 5.46 per 100,000 for all women, compared with an Army rate of 11.3 women soldiers per 100,000.

The Army concluded in the 2007 report that the "main indicators" for the 2006 suicides were failed relationships, legal and financial problems and "occupational/operational" issues.
The "typical profile" of a soldier who commits suicide is a member of an infantry unit who kills himself with a firearm.

20 PEOPLE KILLED IN TWO SUICIDE BOMBINGS IN IRAQ

The mainstream media will again ignore this story as they have done every story coming out of Iraq.

Thursday 29th May, 2008
Damaging actions in Iraq and Afghanistan
Big News Network.com Thursday 29th May, 2008

http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/index.php?sid=364863

At least 20 people have been killed in two suicide bombings targeting police and security forces in northern Iraq.A man in a explosives-packed jacket blew himself up at a recruitment centre in a town west of the provincial capital Mosul on the road to Syria.17 people were killed and and another 42 were wounded.A few hours earlier, a suicide bomber drove into a group of police officers and detonated his explosives in Al-Gabat, just north of Mosul.At least three people, including two policemen, were killed and 12 people were wounded.In other war news: NATO warplanes have pounded a militant compound in south-west Afghanistan, killing 30 Taliban fighters.The fighting came after after clashes that left three Afghan police and troops dead.The rebels, including Pakistani fighters, had moved the area from neighbouring Helmand.Afghan soldiers and police and troops from NATO forces surrounded their compound and started firing.In initial fighting, two Afghan soldiers and a policeman were killed and several were wounded.

MARINES PASS OUT GOSPEL VERSE COINS TO IRAQI MUSLIMS IN FALLUJAH

Marines pass out Gospel verse to Iraqi Muslims, Iraqis say

Jamal Naji and Leila Fadel McClatchy Newspapers
last updated: May 28, 2008 08:28:57 PM
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/38820.html

FALLUJAH, Iraq — At the western entrance to the Iraqi city of Fallujah Tuesday, Muamar Anad handed his residence badge to the U.S. Marines guarding the city.

They checked to be sure that he was a city resident, and when they were done, Anad said, a Marine slipped a coin out of his pocket and put it in his hand.

Out of fear, he accepted it, Anad said. When he was inside the city, the college student said, he looked at one side of the coin. "Where will you spend eternity?" it asked.

He flipped it over, and on the other side it read, "For God so loved the world, that He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life. John 3:16."

"They are trying to convert us to Christianity," said Anad, a Sunni Muslim like most residents of this city in Anbar province. At home, he told his story, and his relatives echoed their disapproval: They'd been given the coins, too, he said.

Fallujah, the scene of a bloody U.S. offensive against Sunni insurgents in 2004, has calmed and grown less hostile to American troops since residents turned against al Qaida in Iraq, which had tried to force its brand of Islamist extremism on the population.

Now residents of the city are abuzz that some Americans whom they consider occupiers are also acting as Christian missionaries. Residents said some Marines at the western entrance to their city have been passing out the coins for two days in what they call a "humiliating" attempt to convert them to Christianity.

In the markets, people crowded around men with the coins, passing them to each other and asking in surprise, "Have you seen this?"

Click here http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/38820.html to read full story

MARINE CORPS TIMES REPORTS: MARINES AND ARMY HURTING FOR MONEY WANT DOD TO TAKE MONEY FROM NAVY AND AIR FORCE

The cost of carrying on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan have not only stretched the military personnel to the breaking point, but the Army and Marines are in dire need of more money to keep "fighting" and they want the Pentagon to take money from the Navy and Air Force budget and allocate it to the Marines and Army.

DoD asks to transfer $9.7 billion to Army and Marines

By William H. McMichael - Staff writerPosted : Wednesday May 28, 2008 18:48:29 EDT
http://www.marinecorpstimes.com/news/2008/05/military_defensebudget_army_supplemental_052808w/

The Pentagon, still lacking more than $100 billion it has long requested to fund the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan through September, asked Congress Tuesday for permission to transfer $9.7 billion to the Army and other agencies from the Navy and Air Force budgets as a stopgap measure.
If lawmakers do not take action on a new wartime supplemental spending request by June 9, the Pentagon said the Army, bearing the lion’s share of war burdens, will run out of money to pay its soldiers by June 15.
And even if the $9.7 billion reprogramming request is granted, the Pentagon said the money will fund only another few weeks of overall operations. Failure to pass the entire $108.1 billion supplemental request by mid-July, officials said, will exhaust all remaining military personnel and operations funding by late July and leave the department unable to meet both military and civilian payroll.

FIVE YEARS AFTER "MISSION ACCOMPLISHED" IRAQIS DREAM OF WHEN US IS OUT OF THEIR COUNTRY

Five Years After Mission Accomplished, Iraqis "Dream of the End of the Occupation"

By Dahr Jamail and Ahmed Ali, IPS News
Posted on May 28, 2008, Printed on May 28, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/86682/

BAQUBA -- After more than five years of U.S. occupation, the very dreams of the people of Baquba have changed. For a start, they are no longer about the future.

Today, a shower is a dream. Or that the electricity supply continues just that little bit longer.

"These needs are very trivial for people of other countries," 43-year-old political leader Saad Tahir told IPS. "But in Iraq, people dream more of these things than of some ambition or success."

Abdullah Mahdi, a retired 51-year-old trader, says he dreams only of electricity.

"Like millions here, I hope supply gets better to help us to sleep in this hot summer," Mahdi told IPS. "We have been suffering from this problem since the 1991 Kuwait war, and this current occupation only made things worse."

Others dream of freedom of movement. "I dream of traveling among the Iraqi provinces freely and safely," a local resident said. "For more than two years now, I have not traveled to any province of my country." Lack of security means Iraqis can rarely travel even to a neighboring area.

Children also seem to have begun to dream differently.

"I dream of a playground in which I and my friends can play freely and at any time," 11-year-old Luay Amjad told IPS. Children are not allowed to play just anywhere for fear of unexploded bombs, haphazard firing, and a general fear of the Iraqi military. Many children in Baquba and other districts of Diyala province have been kidnapped.

"All families wish to see their children safe, and then enjoying their time," said a young father. "We know that they currently live in a very closed world. But we put pressure on our children for their own safety. Streets are dangerous, and even gardens may sometimes be dangerous."

Click on link to read full account.

WE HAVE NAMES AND HOMETOWNS OF LATEST US DEATHS IN IRAQ

U.S. Confirmed Deaths Reported Deaths:
4084 Confirmed Deaths:
4084 Pending Confirmation:
0 DoD Confirmation List

Latest Coalition Fatalities
Source: http://icasualties.org/oif/ (Click on BLUE for more details of each GIs death)

05/28/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. 1st Class Jason F. Dene, 37, of Castleton, Vt., died May 25 in Baghdad, Iraq, from injuries suffered in a non-combat related incident on May 24. He was assigned to the 1st Battalion, 64th Armor Regiment, 2nd Brigade Combat Team...

05/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Frank J. Gasper, 25, of Merced, Calif., died May 25 in Najaf, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion, 10th Special Forces Group, Fort Carson, Colo.

05/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Sgt. Blake W. Evans, 24, of Rockford, Ill., died May 25 in Al Jazeera Desert, Iraq, of wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device. He was assigned to the 2nd Battalion, 327th Infantry Regiment...

05/27/08 DoD Identifies Army Casualty
Pfc. Kyle P. Norris, 22, of Zanesville, Ohio, died May 23 in Balad, Iraq, from wounds suffered when his vehicle encountered an improvised explosive device during a patrol May 22 in Jurf as Sakhr, Iraq. He was assigned to the 3rd Battalion...

WILL PRESS COVER WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN FRIDAY IN IRAQ?

Iraq's Sadr calls for protest against U.S. forces on Friday

REUTERSReuters North American News Service
May 27, 2008 13:11 EST
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=186291

BAGHDAD, May 27 (Reuters) - Anti-American Shi'ite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr called for a mass protest on Friday against negotiations between Washington and Baghdad on keeping U.S. troops in the country beyond 2008.

"We invite Iraqis to join us for a mass demonstration after Friday prayers unless the government cancels this agreement," Sadr said in a statement issued by his office in the holy Shi'ite city of Najaf on Tuesday.

He said the protests would continue nationwide until the government agreed to hold a referendum on the continued U.S. presence. Sadr pulled his bloc out of Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government last year in protest at his refusal to negotiate a timetable for a U.S. troop withdrawal.

Sadr called for a million-strong march against the U.S. presence in April but later called it off for security reasons.

Click on this linkhttp://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=186291

CNN REPORTS: KBR FAILS TO GROUND ELECTRICAL CORD AND GREEN BERET IS ELECTROCUTED IN IRAQ SHOWER

When Vice President Dick Cheney was head of Halliburton one of the companies biggest subsidaries was KBR, Kellogg, Brown and Root, who has million dollar contracts to provide systems and services for American troops in Iraq.

KBR installed a shower at an Iraq Army base and a Green Beret was electrocuted when it was found KBR failed to ground the electricity leading to the shower.

Green Beret electrocuted in shower on Iraq base

Story Highlights
At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq from wiring problems
Ryan Maseth, 24, died January 2 while taking a shower on base
"I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted," his mom says
Defense Department inspector general, Congress launch investigation

By Abbie Boudreau and Scott BronsteinCNN Special Investigations Unit

http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/soldier.electrocutions/index.html

PITTSBURGH, Pennsylvania (CNN) -- A highly decorated Green Beret, Staff Sgt. Ryan Maseth died a painful death in Iraq this year. He died not on the battlefield. He died in what should have been one of the safest spots in Iraq: on a U.S. base, in his bathroom.

The water pump was not properly grounded, and when he turned on the shower, a jolt of electricity shot through his body and electrocuted him January 2.

The next day, Cheryl Harris was informed of his death. A mother of three sons serving in Iraq, she had feared such news might come one day.

"I did ask exactly, 'How did Ryan die? What happened to him?' And he had told me that Ryan was electrocuted," she said.

Her reaction was disbelief. "I truly couldn't believe he would be electrocuted ... in the shower," she said.

Maseth, 24, was not the first. At least 12 U.S. troops have been electrocuted in Iraq since the start of the war in 2003, according to military and government officials. Watch mom describe horror, heartbreak over son's electrocution »

In fact, the Army issued a bulletin in 2004 warning that electrocution was "growing at an alarming rate." It said five soldiers died that year by electrocution, with improper grounding the likely culprit in each case.

The Army bulletin detailed one soldier's death in a shower -- eerily similar to Maseth's case -- that said he was found "lying on a shower room floor with burn marks on his body."
Maseth's mother says the Army was not immediately forthcoming with details about her son's death.

At one point, she says, the Army told her he had a small appliance with him in the shower on his base, a former palace complex near the Baghdad airport.

"It just created so much doubt, and I know Ryan, I know Ryan, I know how he was trained, I know that he would not have been in a shower with a small appliance and electrocuted himself," she said. Watch "I can't make sense around Ryan's death" »

The Army refused to answer CNN's questions about the case, citing pending litigation by Maseth's family.

Maseth's mother says she pressed the military for answers, eventually uncovering more details about her son's electrocution. The surging current left burn marks across his body, even singeing his hair. Army reports show that he probably suffered a long, painful death.

Fellow soldiers had to break down the door to help, said Patrick Cavanaugh, an attorney for Maseth's parents.

Click on this link for full story http://www.cnn.com/2008/US/05/28/soldier.electrocutions/index.html

MAINSTREAM MEDIA IGNORES HOW ANBAR PROVINCE IN IRAQ IS HEATING UP

The mainstream media continues to "spike" any story reflecting on the deteriorating conditions in Iraq. The mainstream media in the United States can no longer be trusted to give Americans information on the spiraling out of control violence in Anbar and now other provinces in Iraq.

It was only a few months ago, President Bush, General Petraeus and FOX NEWS were shouting from the rooftops about how "the surge" had brought peace and quiet to Anbar Province.

That has all gone down the drain now and Anbar is falling apart. The violence is spreading to other provinces as Iraq heads into the blistering summer months with one province after another feeling "the surge," only this time "the surge" is the "the surge" of violence by insurgents, Al Qaeda and the Mehdi Army all who HATE the United States.

Editorial comment by BILL CORCORAN, editor of CORKSPHERE.

Is Diyala Heating Up, or is This Business as Usual?

by: Chris LeJeune
Wed May 28, 2008 at 12:36:22 PM EDT
http://www.vetvoice.com/showDiary.do?diaryId=1351

A number of different stories over the past few days suggest that Anbar might not be the only province starting to heat up.

Security authorities released 160 detainees from Iraqi detention centers through the Diala police department after proving that they were not involved in any criminal acts, the chief of local police said on Wednesday morning.

"The Diala police freed 160 detainees from the Bucca detention center in Basra and Karkoush jail in Baladruz after they had been proven not guilty of involvement in any crime," General Ghanem al-Qureshi told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq - (VOI). "The total number of detainees released as of January 2008 until now reached 1,435," the general explained.

Detainee release has been happening across Iraq for several years now, and by itself does not seem to point to any increase in violence. However, that story was from today, and was followed by a number of other stories also released in the last 72 hours.

"An explosive charge detonated, this morning, in al-Khwelis village near Ba'aquba, killing a civilian and wounding another,"

Two civilians were killed and a third was wounded on Wednesday as a roadside bomb exploded in Diala province, central Iraq, a local official source said.

Both of those attacks were from today, this was from yesterday:
At least an Iraqi soldier was killed and another wounded on Tuesday morning as gunmen attacked a checkpoint in Diala, central Iraq, a police source said. "Gunmen, believed to be from Qaeda Organization, launched an attack on a checkpoint manned by Iraqi troops in Hibhib district, killing a soldier and wounding another,"

Even the livestock isn't safe:
Four shepherds disappeared along with their livestock on Monday in the desert areas in southwest Baaquba, an official security source said. "Four herdsmen disappeared today in the desert area in Baladruz, southwest of Baaquba," "Their families informed security authorities of their disappearance along with scores of livestock," Ba'aquba, the capital of Diyala, lies 57 km northeast of Baghdad.

So, is this normal for Diyala province, or a sign of change? Could this be related to the detainee releases, or AQI moving from one area into another?

NEWS MAINSTREAM MEDIA DOESN'T REPORT: 7500 IRAQI COPS SACKED

Over 7,500 police members sacked this year- official

Baghdad - Voices of Iraq
Wednesday , 28 /05 /2008 Time 6:56:59

http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=80672&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

Baghdad, May 28, (VOI) – The Iraqi Ministry of Interior dismissed more than 7,500 police members from their positions in 2008, a senior under-secretary of state at the Ministry said on Wednesday, citing absence, negligence, and corruption as the main reasons behind the sacking.

WHY DOES PRESS SAY VIOLENCE IS DOWN IN IRAQ WHEN ALL THIS IS HAPPENING?

The mainstream media and especially FOX NEWS, the parrot of the Bush White House, continue to say violence is down in Iraq and yet every single day we bring readers of this blog reports from Iraq on how violence continues at an alarming rate and there are more deaths of US troops and coalition forces.

According to former White House press secretary Scott McClellan's new book, the mainstream media was "in the tank" for the Bush administration in the run up to the Iraq war, and judging by how the mainstream media continues to ignore the violence in Iraq and takes Pentagon handouts as the Gospel Truth about Iraq, the mainstream media is still in Bush's hip pocket.


War News for Wednesday, May 28, 2008
http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

Xinhuanet is reporting the death of a ISAF soldier in an explosion in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, May 28th. Four other soldiers were wounded in the attack. Here's NATO statement.The DoD is reporting a new death previously unreleased by CENTCOM. Sgt. Frank J. Gasper died in an IED explosion in Najaf, Iraq on Sunday, May 25th. No other details were released.

The DoD is reporting a second new death previously unreported by CENTCOM. Sgt. Blake W. Evans died in an IED attack in the Al Jazeera Desert, Iraq on Sunday, May 25th. No other details were released.Reported

Security incidents:Baghdad:#1: Fighting between U.S. troops and militant forces in Baghdad's Sadr City killed five people and wounded eight, Iraq's Interior Ministry said Wednesday. The fighting occurred in Sadr City's Fadhailiya district, scene of several clashes between U.S.- and Iraqi-led forces and supporters of rebel Shiite cleric Moqtada Sadr, CNN reported.#2: Iraq's largest Sunni Arab political bloc has suspended talks on ending its boycott of the Shiite-led government due to a dispute over which positions it would assume, the head of the bloc said Wednesday.#3: In violence Wednesday, sporadic gunbattles broke out in a Shiite stronghold in southeastern Baghdad as detentions and raids against al-Sadr's followers continue to strain a truce that ended nearly two months of fierce clashes in the capital. Iraqi police officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information, said three civilians were killed and five others wounded in the fighting that broke out about 6 a.m.#4: A roadside bomb also struck a car in the Qara Taba district, northeast of Baghdad, killing a farmer and his son, local official Serwan Shukr said.#5: Around 9am, police found 4 dead bodies in Ubaidi neighborhood after being informed by the American troops.#6: Around noon, a roadside bomb targeted a police patrol at Diyala bridge neighborhood.6 people were injured including 2 policemen.#7: Around 12:30 pm, a mortar hit the ministry of planning building. No casualties recorded.Diyala Prv:#1: A father and a son were killed Wednesday in a bomb blast in Iraq's restive Diyala province. bomb went off on a main road linking Qura Tiba and Kafri near Baquba, 185 kilometres north-east of Baghdad, hitting a civilian vehicle, the Voices of Iraq news agency quoted a local official, Sirwan Shukr, as saying. Two passengers in the car - a father and his son - were killed and another son was injured in the blast.#2: At least a civilian was killed and one more wounded on Wednesday in a roadside bomb explosion in Diala province, central Iraq, a police source said. “An explosive charge detonated, this morning, in al-Khwelis village near Ba’aquba, killing a civilian and wounding another,” the source, who asked to be unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq.Karbala:#1: Two people were killed in clashes between Iraqi police and unidentified gunmen near the Shi'a holy city of Karbala, police said on Wednesday. Heavy fighting erupted on Tuesday evening between police and gunmen in the district of Al-Rafee, 30km from Karbala, local Police Chief General Shakir Jowdat told AFP. He said a search operation had been launched in the area. There were no further details about the identity of the attackers or their motive.Amarra:#1: An Iraqi army soldier was killed on Tuesday by unknown gunmen in central Amara city, a security source said. “Unknown armed men opened fire on an Iraqi army soldier in al-Qadissiya region, killing him instantly,” the source told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.Baiji:#1: Police killed seven suspected al-Qaeda militants during clashes in a village just outside the town of Baiji, 180 km (110 miles) north of Baghdad, on Tuesday and Wednesday, police said. Three policemen were wounded in the clashes.Kirkuk:#1: Deputy Chief of Kirkuk Emergency Police Forces survived unharmed an attempt on his life in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk on Wednesday morning, a police source said. “An explosive charge detonated, this morning, near the motorcade of Lieutenant Colonel Fuad Shewani in central Kirkuk, wounding an escort,” the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq- Voices of Iraq. The source added that Shewani survived the attack unharmed.Al Anbar Prv:Fallujah:#1: A policeman was killed on Tuesday in a roadside bomb explosion targeting a police vehicle patrol in eastern Falluja, a police source said. “An explosive charge, planted on a road in al-Senaa neighborhood in eastern Falluja, went off, killing a policeman,” the source, who wished to remain anonymous, told Aswat al-Iraq – Voices of Iraq.Garma:#1: A mob stormed the house of a member of a U.S.-backed neighbourhood patrol and stabbed him to death in the town of Garma, 30 km (20 miles) northwest of Baghdad, police said.Afghanistan:#1: In the eastern province of Khost, meanwhile, two suicide bombers tried to attack a US military outpost but were stopped by Afghan police at a checkpoint. Police opened fire and killed both bombers, said Gen. Mohammad Ayub, the provincial police chief. He said no one else was killed. A US spokesman said he didn't immediately have any information about the incident.Police fired on a suicide bomber who was driving a vehicle filled with explosives toward a military base with US and Afghan troops in Gurbaz district of south-eastern Khost province, said Mohammad Ayoub, provincial police chief. He said three Afghan civilians were injured in the explosion Wednesday morning.#2: In Helmand province, a suicide bomber on a motorbike targeted a police truck but missed, said Doulad Wazir, the governor's spokesman. One civilian was killed, he said.a man riding a motorbike packed with explosives detonated himself near a police vehicle in Lashkargah city, in southern Helmand province, provincial police chief Mohammad Hussain Andewal said. The blast killed the bomber and wounded two policemen and two civilians, he said.

IRAQI GOVERNMENT ON BRINK OF COLLAPSE

Iraq's main Sunni bloc suspends government talks

Wisam MohammedReuters North American News Service
May 27, 2008 18:56 EST

http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=186738

BAGHDAD, May 28 (Reuters) - Iraq's main Sunni Arab political bloc said on Wednesday it had suspended talks to rejoin the Shi'ite-led government after a disagreement with Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki over a cabinet post.

Persuading the bloc to rejoin has been a main aim of U.S. policy in Iraq and is widely seen as a vital step in reconciling the country's factions after years of conflict. Sunni Arabs have little voice in a cabinet dominated by Shi'ites and Kurds.

"We have suspended negotiations with the government and pulled out our candidates," said Salim al-Jibouri, spokesman for the Accordance Front. He said the decision was taken after Maliki objected to a candidate for a cabinet position.

CNN REPORTS IRAQI TEENS ARE TRAINED FOR SUICIDE MISSIONS

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Iraqi soldiers rounded up six teenagers in northern Iraq who were being trained, against their will, to carry out suicide bombings for al Qaeda in Iraq, the Interior Ministry said.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/26/iraq.main/index.html

Troops conducting house-to-house searches in Mosul found six teens, ages 15 to 18, who were being trained to perpetrate attacks against Iraqi security forces, said ministry spokesman Maj. Gen. Abdul Karim Khalaf.

Insurgents had threatened to kill the boys or their families if they refused to comply with the training, Deputy Interior Minister Kamal Ali Hussein told reporters.

"The Saudi insurgent threatened to rape our mothers and sisters, destroy our houses and kill our fathers if we did not cooperate with him," one of the youths told The Associated Press in Mosul.

The boys were rounded up as part of the Mother of Two Springs operation targeting al Qaeda in Iraq in Mosul and Nineveh province. The offensive has netted the detentions of more than 1,300 suspects.

The teens had been trained in recent weeks, Khalaf said.

A Saudi national -- a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq operative -- had been one of their trainers, but he was believed to have died in a military operation, Khalaf said. It is not known where or when he was killed.

The group of teens included the son of a female physician, the son of a college professor and four youths who belonged to families of poor vendors.

All six boys were taught how to carry out suicide attacks with explosive belts and a date was fixed for each one of them, Hussein said, adding that Iraqi soldiers had questioned the boys.

AP REPORTED McCAIN'S OFFER TO "EDUCATE" OBAMA ON IRAQ WITHOUT MENTIONING McCAIN'S FALSE CLAIMS ABOUT IRAQ

The Associated Press quoted Sen. John McCain claiming in an interview that he would "seize that opportunity to educate Senator [Barack] Obama along the way" if the two were to visit Iraq together, and that McCain also said that Obama "really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq." But the AP did not mention a series of claims made by McCain that raised questions about his own "knowledge" and "judgment" about Iraq, including about the safety of Baghdad neighborhoods and that Iran is training Al Qaeda.

http://mediamatters.org/items/200805270006?lid=322934&rid=8658434

In a May 26 article about an interview with Sen. John McCain, the Associated Press reported that McCain said that he and Sen. Barack Obama should visit Iraq together and quoted McCain claiming that he would "seize that opportunity to educate Senator Obama along the way." Reporters Liz Sidoti and Barry Massey further quoted McCain saying that Obama "really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time." But they did not mention statements McCain has made or actions he has taken in the past two years that raised questions about McCain's own "knowledge" and "judgment about the issue of Iraq," including claims about the safety of Baghdad neighborhoods, and his admittedly false claim -- which he made repeatedly -- that Iranian operatives are "taking al-Qaeda into Iran, training them and sending them back."

As Media Matters for America has documented, after visiting Iraq on a fact-finding tour, McCain twice made the Iran-Al Qaeda claim to reporters during a March 18 press conference in Amman, Jordan -- one day after he made a similar claim during an interview with nationally syndicated radio host Hugh Hewitt. After Sen. Joe Lieberman (I-CT), who was accompanying McCain on the trip, whispered something in his ear, McCain corrected himself, saying: "I'm sorry, the Iranians are training extremists, not al-Qaeda." As The New York Times reported on March 19, Iran is believed to be financing and training Shiite extremists in Iraq, not Al Qaeda in Iraq.
On March 26, 2007, just before another fact-finding tour to Iraq, McCain told conservative radio host William Bennett that "[t]here are neighborhoods in Baghdad where you and I could walk through those neighborhoods today."

When asked about those comments the next day on CNN's The Situation Room, McCain told host Wolf Blitzer: "General [David] Petraeus goes out there almost every day in an unarmed Humvee." When confronted about his comment on the April 8, 2007, edition of CBS' 60 Minutes, McCain, then in Iraq, admitted to correspondent Scott Pelley: "There is no unarmored Humvees. Obviously, that's the case. ... Of course I'm going to misspeak and I've done it on numerous occasions, and I probably will in the future."


On April 1, 2007, as part of a Republican congressional delegation, McCain visited an open-air market in downtown Baghdad. At a press conference later that day, a reporter asked McCain about his previous statement that he "could walk through" neighborhoods in Baghdad, and McCain replied: "Yeah, I just was -- came from one. ... Things are better, and there are encouraging signs. I have been here many ... times over the years; never have I been able to drive from the airport, never have I been able to go out into the city as I was today." However, McCain later admitted during his interview with Pelley on 60 Minutes that he was provided with security during his visit to the market: "I understand why they would provide me with that security, but I can tell you, if it had been two months ago, and I'd have asked to do it, they'd have said, 'under no circumstance whatsoever.' I view that as a sign of progress." As Pelley noted, McCain was accompanied by "10 armored humvees, soldiers with rifles, and two Apache attack helicopters circling overhead." Several other media outlets also noted McCain's heavy security during the visit.

The day after McCain's Baghdad market walk, Reuters reported that "[t]he crack of shots fired by unseen snipers echoed on Monday through Baghdad's wholesale Shorja market, a day after U.S. Senator John McCain held up his visit there as one sign of improving security in Baghdad." Also, in an April 3, 2007, New York Times article headlined "McCain Wrong on Iraq Security, Merchants Say," reporter Kirk Semple wrote that a "day after members of an American Congressional delegation led by Senator John McCain pointed to their brief visit to Baghdad's central market as evidence that the new security plan for the city was working, the merchants there were incredulous about the Americans' conclusions. ... Shorja, the city's oldest and largest market, set in a sprawling labyrinth of narrow streets and alleyways, has been bombed at least a half-dozen times since last summer. At least 61 people were killed and many more wounded in a three-pronged attack there on Feb. 12 involving two vehicle bombs and a roadside bomb."
From the May 26 Associated Press article:

Republican John McCain on Monday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for not having been to Iraq since 2006, and said they should visit the war zone together.

"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost," the GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting told The Associated Press in an interview, noting that the Illinois senator's last trip to Iraq came before the military buildup that is credited with curbing violence.

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."

McCain, a Navy veteran and Vietnam prisoner of war, frequently argues that he's the most qualified candidate to be a wartime commander in chief. In recent weeks, he has sought portray Obama, a first-term senator, as naive on foreign policy and not experienced enough to lead the military.

The Iraq war, which polls have shown that most of the country opposes, is shaping up to be a defining issue in the November presidential election.

Click on this link http://mediamatters.org/items/200805270006?lid=322934&rid=8658434 to read the rest of the story.

BREAKING NEWS: CLG REPORTS BUSH PLANS AIR STRIKE ON IRAN BY AUGUST

Bush 'plans Iran air strike by August' 28 May 2008 The George W Bush administration plans to launch an air strike against Iran within the next two months, an informed source tells Asia Times Online, echoing other reports that have surfaced in the media in the United States recently. The source, a retired US career diplomat and former assistant secretary of state still active in the foreign affairs community, speaking anonymously, said last week that that the US plans an air strike against the Iranian Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC).
http://www.legitgov.org/#breaking_news Click here to read full story.

FORMER BUSH PRESS SECRETARY SAYS BUSH USED PROPAGANDA TO SELL THE WAR IN A NEW BOOK

Former Bush press secretary Scott Mclellan has written a memoir that, among other things, describes the administration as using "propaganda" to sell the war in Iraq.

by Chris Edelson
http://www.theseminal.com/2008/05/27/former-bush-spokesman-describes-iraq-war-propaganda/

Mclellan is not the first insider to spill the beans about incompetence and deception–he is preceded by former Treasury Secretary Paul O'Neill. John DiIulio, and Richard Clarke, among others, Mclellan also notes that Rove and Libby "at best" misled him in their role about the administration's retaliation against Valerie and Joe Wilson, and concedes that some of his own statements to the press were "badly misguided."


The administration's use of propaganda to push for war in Iraq is no surprise — for one thing, Dana Milbank of the Washington Post reported on the administration's deceptions in late 2002. What's curious is that Mclellan professes to "still like and admire President Bush." How can Mclellan still likes and admire a president who, in Mclellan's own words, used propaganda to mislead a nation into war? Perhaps this helps to explain Bush's solid 30% of diehard supporters–like Mclellan, it's not clear what, if anything, could make them stop liking and admiring Bush.

A question begs to be answered, and perhaps Mclellan gets around to it somewhere in his book: if Mclellan knew that the president was lying to the American people about the need to go to war in Iraq, why didn't he speak up sooner, and leave the administration? (he stayed on as press secretary until 2006). I guess if he can still admire a president who uses deception to sell an unnecessary war, he could still feel ok feeding "badly misguided" information to the American people.

You know we've hit scandal overload when a former press secretary can accuse a sitting president of using propaganda to sell war to the public and the media's likely reaction is a yawn.

FEELING SAFER, IRAQIS COME HOME, BUT ONLY A FEW

Of some 5.1 million Iraqis uprooted from their homes, some 78,180 - fewer than 1 percent - had returned by March 31, according to the International Organization for Migration, an intergovernmental humanitarian group based in Switzerland.

Up to half the displaced are in neighboring countries, chiefly Jordan and Syria. But these countries, feeling overwhelmed, have tightened visa restrictions. Meanwhile Iraqis who are refugees in their own country are feeling the pinch of high rents, lost jobs and the disruption of their children's education.

Yet the U.N. and aid agencies warn that despite the drop in violence, a rapid mass return of Iraqis demanding their old homes back may only reignite sectarian tensions.

So the exodus from Iraq remains possibly the biggest crisis of its kind in the world today, and could stay that way indefinitely.

By KIM GAMELAssociated Press Writer
Click on this link to read full story: http://www.sanluisobispo.com/387/story/370214.html

McCAIN SAYS HE AND OBAMA SHOULD VISIT IRAQ TOGETHER: DOES THIS MEAN McCAIN WILL NEED 200 TROOPS AS SECURITY INSTEAD OF 100 LIKE THE LAST TIME

When Sen. John McCain first visited Iraq, the US military provided a security guard of 100 troops to protect him as he walked around the streets of Baghdad. McCain returned to the US and told a nationwide audience that everything was so calm in Baghdad he could walk around the streets unprotected.

When McCain returned to Iraq earlier this year, he wanted to visit the same Baghdad neighborhood but the US military told him that part of the city was far too dangerous to visit and so McCain settled for a photo/op at another part of Baghdad.

Now McCain has issued a challenge to Democrat Sen. Barack Obama, the presumed Democratic nominee for POTUS, to visit Iraq with him.

Does this mean McCain will ask for a security detail of 200 troops if Obama were to join him on a tour of Baghdad, which, of course, is highly unlikely?

Editorial Comment: Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE

Republican John McCain on Monday sharply criticized Democratic rival Barack Obama for not having been to Iraq since 2006, and said they should visit the war zone together.

By LIZ SIDOTI and BARRY MASSEY, Associated Press WritersTue May 27, 12:54 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080527/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

"Look at what happened in the last two years since Senator Obama visited and declared the war lost," the GOP presidential nominee-in-waiting told The Associated Press in an interview, noting that the Illinois senator's last trip to Iraq came before the military buildup that is credited with curbing violence.

"He really has no experience or knowledge or judgment about the issue of Iraq and he has wanted to surrender for a long time," the Arizona senator added. "If there was any other issue before the American people, and you hadn't had anything to do with it in a couple of years, I think the American people would judge that very harshly."

McCain, a Navy veteran and Vietnam prisoner of war, frequently argues that he's the most qualified candidate to be a wartime commander in chief. In recent weeks, he has sought portray Obama, a first-term senator, as naive on foreign policy and not experienced enough to lead the military.

The Iraq war, which polls have shown that most of the country opposes, is shaping up to be a defining issue in the November presidential election.

McCain, who wrapped up the GOP nomination in March, supports continued military presence in Iraq though he recently said he envisions victory with most U.S. troops coming home by January 2013 if he's elected. Obama, who has all but clinched the Democratic nomination, says he will remove U.S. combat troops within 16 months of taking office, though sometimes he shortens it to 11 months.

Click on this link for full story http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080527/ap_on_el_pr/mccain

DAHR JAMAIL WRITES ABOUT HOW ONE IRAQI CITY IS COPING WITH THE US OCCUPATION OF THEIR LAND

IRAQ: Through Occupation, The Very Dreams Change

By Ahmed Ali and Dahr Jamail*
http://www.ipsnews.net/news.asp?idnews=42529

BAQUBA, May 27 (IPS) - After more than five years of U.S. occupation, the very dreams of the people of Baquba have changed. For a start, they are no longer about the future.Today, a shower is a dream. Or that the electricity supply continues just that little bit longer.

"These needs are very trivial for people of other countries," 43-year-old political leader Saad Tahir told IPS. "But in Iraq, people dream more of these things than of some ambition or success." Abdullah Mahdi, a retired 51-year-old trader, says he dreams only of electricity. "Like millions here, I hope supply gets better to help us to sleep in this hot summer," Mahdi told IPS. "We have been suffering from this problem since the 1991 Kuwait war, and this current occupation only made things worse."

Others dream of freedom of movement. "I dream of travelling among the Iraqi provinces freely and safely," a local resident said. "For more than two years now, I have not travelled to any province of my country."

Lack of security means Iraqis can rarely travel even to a neighbouring area. Children also seem to have begun to dream differently. "I dream of a playground in which I and my friends can play freely and at any time," 11-year-old Luay Amjad told IPS. Children are not allowed to play just anywhere for fear of unexploded bombs, haphazard firing, and a general fear of the Iraqi military. Many children in Baquba and other districts of Diyala province have been kidnapped. "All families wish to see their children safe, and then enjoying their time," said a young father.

"We know that they currently live in a very closed world. But we put pressure on our children for their own safety. Streets are dangerous, and even gardens may sometimes be dangerous." Others dream of a functioning economy. According to the ministry of trade, unemployment has been vacillating between 40-70 percent over the last two years. "I hope that the trade and economic process will improve," said an unemployed trader. "I wish Iraq could be an industrial country with a flourishing and luxurious status of living. I want to get back to my shop and have my own customers."

Teachers dream of an Iraq that can be a centre for education again. "Iraq was one of the countries that paid great attention to education," a university professor, speaking on condition of anonymity, told IPS. "Now, breaking the rules of schools is very common, and fake certificates are spread widely all over the country.

We dream of a rigorous and successful educational process." Farmers simply dream of water, and the security necessary to work in their fields. "I hope I can work on my farm again, and have water to irrigate all the land," said a local vegetable farmer. A cleric spoke of bigger dreams. "I dream that all Iraqis will love each other again, as we used to in the past days. We miss hope, a smile, and true love.

We hope that cooperation prevails again among people. We hope for killing and displacement to end forever in this once peaceful country. We hope that the sectarian discrimination disappears." A political analyst said he dreams of an end to the occupation. "The occupation is the source of all the problems of our people. I do dream of the end of the occupation -- no more arrests, no more prison for simple and poor people, and no more suffering."

(*Ahmed, our correspondent in Iraq's Diyala province, works in close collaboration with Dahr Jamail, our U.S.-based specialist writer on Iraq who has reported extensively from Iraq and the Middle East). (END/2008)

BAGHDAD, CITY OF WIDOWS: GRIPPING NEW VIDEO OF IRAQI WIDOWS TALKING ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED TO THEIR FAMILIES

SOURCE: THE REAL NEWS NETWORK

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=1568&updaterx=2008-05-27+09%3A20%3A35

We show this segment courtesy of www.aliveinbaghdad.org. Alive in Baghdad employs Iraqi journalists to produce video packages each week about a variety of topics on daily life in Iraq.
Iraq, Baghdad/Abu Dsheer -

This memorial day, as citizens of the United States, and perhaps elsewhere, are remembering the fallen soldiers of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, as well as previous conflicts, Alive in Baghdad asks you to remember the civilian fallen as well. It’s been estimated that 1.3 million women have been widowed in Iraq due to war, ranging from the Iran-Iraq war to the most recent conflict which is still going on today.Although its difficult to be certain if this number is accurate, or to know just how many have been widowed in the most recent conflict, Iraq’s acting Minister of Women's Affairs, Narmeen Othman, suggests that at least 70,000 women have been widowed due to the most recent war.

However, these numbers are disputed widely, and while a government committee on women’s affairs has claimed there are just 1.3 million widows in Iraq, others have reported drastically different numbers. One source in the Ministry of Women’s Affairs told an NBC staffer in 2007 that there were 3 million widows in Iraq due to the various wars of the last two decades.

Despite this already shocking number, the United Nations news service, IRIN, reported in 2006 that there are 8 million widows nation-wide, with upwards of 330,000 in Baghdad alone.
To put that in perspective, if true, it would mean that as much as 6-7 percent of Baghdad’s population may be made up of widows, suggesting that the number of children with only one parent left is likely to be double, or triple this, if not more.

The primary cause for women to be widowed today is sectarian violence and terrorism. Areas such as Abu Dsheer, Hawr Rajab, and other tumultuous districts that have seen some of the worst internecine fighting understandably have some of the most prevalent populations of widows and orphans.Abu Dsheer has been considered one of the bloodiest conflict areas in Baghdad, due to the influence militias have held there. Abu Dsheer is located in the south of Baghdad near Al-Saha neighborhood. Since 2004, Abu Dsheer was controlled by al-Qaeda on one side and the Sadr Movement on the other side, Many people were assassinated due to their sect whether they were Sunni or Shi’a. The Iraqi government tried many times along with coalition forces to restore security in Abu Dsheer with no success.In 2006 there were many bombings taking place in Abu Dsheer, in addition to the battles between the Iraqi or coalition forces and the militias.

The civilian casualties were very high in Abu Dsheer, and the families living there faced grave financial difficulties due to the bad security conditions which prevent them from going to work or looking for jobs within Abu Dsheer.There are NGOs trying to help the people living there, by providing them with medical and financial aid according to their abilities. NGOs such as Al-Tathamon Social Organization (Social Solidarity Organization) are trying to fix some of the problems in areas like Abu Dsheer.

The organization was created on the 10th of July 2007 in order to help families or individuals who were having medical or financial problems. They also help the families who lost there provider, like the father of that family or the mother. The Social Solidarity Organization has offices located in several areas such as Kadhimiya, Sadr City, Al-Husseiniya and Al-Nahrawan, as well as Abu Dsheer.Due to the difficulty these organizations have finding funding, many such as the Social Solidarity Organization and Al-Yateem Charity, which help the women interviewed by Alive in Baghdad, receive support from the Sadr Movement.

Although they claim to have sought financial support from the Iraqi government, both, the organization, and the widows interviewed by Alive in Baghdad say they have not received any support from the government.

US USES BULLETS ILL-SUITED FOR NEW WAYS OF WAR

As Sgt. Joe Higgins patrolled the streets of Saba al-Bor, a tough town north of Baghdad, he was armed with bullets that had a lot more firepower than those of his 4th Infantry Division buddies.
As an Army sniper, Higgins was one of the select few toting an M14. The long-barreled rifle, an imposing weapon built for wars long past, spits out bullets larger and more deadly than the rounds that fit into the M4 carbines and M16 rifles that most soldiers carry.

By RICHARD LARDNERAssociated Press Writer
http://www.kentucky.com/522/story/415759.html

"Having a heavy cartridge in an urban environment like that was definitely a good choice," says Higgins, who did two tours in Iraq and left the service last year. "It just has more stopping power."


Strange as it sounds, nearly seven years into the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq, bullets are a controversial subject for the U.S.

The smaller, steel-penetrating M855 rounds continue to be a weak spot in the American arsenal. They are not lethal enough to bring down an enemy decisively, and that puts troops at risk, according to Associated Press interviews.

Designed decades ago to puncture a Soviet soldier's helmet hundreds of yards away, the M855 rounds are being used for very different targets in Iraq and Afghanistan. Much of today's fighting takes place in close quarters; narrow streets, stairways and rooftops are today's battlefield. Legions of armor-clad Russians marching through the Fulda Gap in Germany have given way to insurgents and terrorists who hit and run.

Fired at short range, the M855 round is prone to pass through a body like a needle through fabric. That does not mean being shot is a pain-free experience. But unless the bullet strikes a vital organ or the spine, the adrenaline-fueled enemy may have the strength to keep on fighting and even live to fight another day.

Click on this link to read full story http://www.kentucky.com/522/story/415759.html

2 US SOLDIERS, 15 IRAQIS KILLED, 53 IRAQIS WOUNDED ON MEMORIAL DAY

At least 15 Iraqis were killed and 53 more were wounded in the latest violence. The most significant attack left two dozen casualties in Tarmiyah. Also, one American soldier was killed and two more were wounded during an IED attack today in Salah ad Din province. Another U.S. soldier died in a non-combat related incident.

Monday: 2 US Soldiers, 15 Iraqis Killed; 53 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 12:45 a.m. EDT, May 27, 2008
http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=12898

In Baghdad, a roadside bomb wounded five people near the airport. A bomb wounded two people in Shabb. In Hurriya, a car bomb killed an Iraqi soldier and wounded eight others. Five people were wounded near Abbas Ebin Firnas intersection when a bomb was detonated inside a park. No casualties were reported after shelling in Muthanna airport. A roadside bomb blasted a US convoy in al-Muhandseen, injuring three American soldiers (unconfirmed). Also, two dumped bodies were recovered.

A suicide motorcycle bomber struck at a joint police and Awakening Council (Sahwa) checkpoint in Tarmiyah. The bomber killed six people and wounded 18 more.
Eight people were wounded when a grenade was tossed at a Mosul police patrol. The body of a prison warden was found.

Three al-Qaeda leaders were arrested. Also, six teenage boys were detained on suspicion they were training to be suicide bombers. The boys said they or their family members were threatened with death if they did not obey.

A roadside bomb near Taza wounded an ambulance driver and a policeman.

One Sahwa member was killed and three were wounded during clashes in Muqdadiyah.
In Balad Ruz, four shepherds and their flock were reported missing.

Two Karkhiya chieftains were kidnapped in Baquba.

A bomb killed a policeman and his six-year-old son in Khan Bani Saad.

Gunmen in Abu Saida killed a policeman and wounded two others.

AND STILL THE MAINSTREAM MEDIA INSISTS ON TELLING AMERICANS THAT EVERYTHING IS GOING GREAT IN IRAQ.

VA HASN'T ENOUGH PSYCHIATRISTS SO THOUSANDS OF PSYCHIATRISTS OFFER TO TREAT TROOPS FREE

Thousands of private counselors are offering free services to troops returning from war in Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems - jumping in to help a military that doesn't have enough therapists. "It's only an hour of your time," said Chirby, who counsels the family member of a someone deployed multiple tines. "How can you not give that to these men and women that ... are going oversees and fighting for us."

By PAULINE JELINEK, The Associated Press2008-05-25 13:56:06.0Current rank: # 278 of 7,755 WASHINGTON -

http://www.examiner.com/a-1408159~Private_psychiatrists_offer_free_service_to_troops.html

Thousands of private counselors are offering free services to troops returning from Iraq and Afghanistan with mental health problems, jumping in to help because the military is short on therapists.

On this Memorial Day, America's armed forces and its veterans are coping with depression, suicide, family, marital and job problems on a scale not seen since Vietnam. The government has been in beg-borrow-and-steal mode, trying to hire psychiatrists and other professionals, recruit them with incentives or borrow them from other agencies.

Among those volunteering an hour a week to help is Brenna Chirby, a psychologist with a private practice in McLean, Va.

"It's only an hour of your time," said Chirby, who counsels a family member of a man deployed multiple times. "How can you not give that to these men and women that ... are going oversees and fighting for us?"

There are only 1,431 mental health professionals among the nation's 1.4 million active-duty military personnel, said Terry Jones, a Pentagon spokesman on health issues.

About 20,000 more full- and part-time professionals provide health care services for the Veterans Administration and the Pentagon. They include psychiatrists, psychologists, psychiatric nurses, social workers and substance abuse counselors.

According to veterans groups and health care experts, that is not enough for a mental health crisis emerging among troops and their families.

"Honestly, much is being done by the Department of Defense and the Department of Veterans Affairs," said retired Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Xenakis, a psychiatrist. "But the need to help these men and women goes far beyond whatever any government agency can do."

About 300,000 of those who have served in Iraq and Afghanistan are estimated to have anxiety or post-traumatic stress, a recent private study said. Add in spouses left home to manage families and households without their partner as well as children deprived of parents during long or repeated tours of duty, and the number with problems balloons to 1 million, Xenakis said.
The VA says it has seen 120,000 Iraq and Afghanistan veterans who have symptoms of mental health problems, half with post-traumatic stress disorder. Although rates are high from those two wars, most of the 400,000 patients seen in VA last year for PTSD were Vietnam-era veterans, officials said.

Civilian groups are trying to step in for troops from the current conflicts.

"There are over 400,000 mental health professionals in our great country," said Barbara V. Romberg, a clinical psychologist who practices in Washington. "Clearly, we have the resources to meet this challenge."

Romberg founded Give An Hour, a group of 1,200 mental health professionals donating one hour of free care a week to troops, veterans or family members. They have to commit to doing it for a year.

Romberg, in cooperation with the American Psychiatric Foundation, hopes to find 40,000 volunteers over the next three years, or about 10 percent of available civilian professionals. The effort to get the word out to those who need the help and to recruit and train volunteers is being backed by a $1 million grant from the Lilly Foundation.

Romberg's group is the largest of a number across the nation.

Click on this link to read full story http://www.examiner.com/a-1408159~Private_psychiatrists_offer_free_service_to_troops.html

BUSH'S WAR ON THE CHILDREN OF IRAQ

Surely nothing that President Bush has done in his two wretched terms of office—not the invasion and destruction of Iraq, not the overturning of the five-centuries-old tradition of habeas corpus, not his authorization and encouragement of torture, not his campaign of domestic spying—nothing, can compare in its ugliness as his approval, as commander in chief, of the imprisoning of over 2500 children.

Bush's War on Children in Iraq
DAVE LINDORFF CounterpunchMonday, May 26, 2008
http://infowars.net/articles/may2008/260508Iraq.htm

According to the US government’s own figures, that is how many kids 17 years and younger have been held since 2001 as “enemy combatants”—often for over a year, and sometimes for over five years. At least eight of those children, some reportedly as young as 10, were held at Guantanamo. They even had a special camp for them there: Camp Iguana. One of those kids committed suicide at the age of 21, after spending five years in confinement at Guantanamo. (Ironically and tragically, that particular victim of the president’s criminal policy, had been determined by the Pentagon to have been innocent only two weeks before he took his own life, but nobody bothered to tell him he was slated for release and a return home to Afghanistan.)

I say Bush’s behavior is criminal because since 1949, under the Geneva Conventions signed and adopted by the US, and incorporated into US law under the Constitution’s supremacy clause, children under the age of 15 are classed as “protected persons,” and even if captured while fighting against US forces are to be considered victims, not POWs. In 2002, the Bush administration signed an updated version of that treaty, raising the “protected person” age to all those “under 18.”

Click on link to read full story http://infowars.net/articles/may2008/260508Iraq.htm

GOP SENATOR AND VA SECRETARY DISRESPECT TROOPS ON MEMORIAL DAY

On Memorial Day weekend, Senator Ted Stevens (R-AK) and VA Secretary James Peake stood side-by-side in Fairbanks, Alaska to showcase their opposition to--and lack of respect for--today's newest veterans.

Source: http://www.vetvoice.com/

Speaking at the Disabled American Veterans' 19th Annual Department Convention, Senator Stevens told the majority of America's most recent war veterans that they had not yet sacrificed enough to have earned a GI Bill that would cover the full cost of their educations.

Sen. Ted Stevens warned of a "mass exodus" from the military Saturday if the so-called 21st Century GI Bill goes into law without major changes. :: "There are worries that people who are already in for two years will serve one more and leave, and there's really no incentive to stay," Stevens said.

What Stevens is really saying is that today's troops are unpatriotic--that they're only in it for the money and the college. And while Stevens' "mass exodus" theory has been thoroughly discredited by the Congressional Budget Office, the true irony of the situation lies in the fact that Stevens earned his own college degree after World War Two by using the same GI Bill he's aiming to prevent today's veterans from receiving.

In today's military lingo, this makes Senator Stevens a "Blue Falcon" or a "Bravo Foxtrot."
At the same convention, VA Secretary James Peake--who is already under fire for the cover-up of an extraordinary number of veteran suicides and for overseeing an organization that may not be taking PTSD seriously--showed a stunning lack of situational awareness by discounting recent media reports and think tank studies by suggesting that fewer returning vets actually had PTSD than is commonly thought.

On the topic of PTSD, Peake questioned if the condition is being overdiagnosed, considering the mental health services available to those in the armed forces.

"I worry about labeling all these kids coming back," he said. "Just because someone might need a little counseling when they get back, doesn't mean they need the PTSD label their whole lives."
The only reason Peake worries about "labeling all these kids" is because he understands neither the cause of combat PTSD nor how it should be treated. If Peake viewed PTSD as a combat injury sustained in theater--as the troops and the psychiatrists do--then he wouldn't worry about the "stigma." As it stands now, Peake is apparently content to perpetuate the myth of the "crazy, unstable vet guy." In fact, what Peake--a former contractor--is saying directly contradicts the message of VA psychiatrists like Jonathan Shay:

The American Psychiatric Association has saddled us with the jargon "Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder" (PTSD)--which sounds like an ailment--even though it is evident from the definition that what we are dealing with is an injury. . .We do not refer to a veteran who has had an arm blown off by a grenade as suffering from "Missing Army Disorder." [. . .] Combat PTSD is a war injury. Veterans with combat PTSD are war wounded, carrying the burdens of sacrifice for the rest of us as surely as the amputees, the burned, the blind, and the paralyzed carry them.
To say the least, it's alarming that the VA Secretary doesn't get this.

Unfortunately, this double-barreled blast of disrespect for the service of Iraq and Afghanistan veterans on Memorial Day weekend from a Republican Senator and a Bush appointee is not unexpected.

We're used to it.

However, it should provide all of us with an extra jolt of motivation to rid our nation of those who hold today's troops in such contempt.

ALL HELL BREAKS LOOSE IN IRAQ ON MEMORIAL DAY

The mainstream media continues to downplay events in Iraq, and when they do report on Iraq it is some childish report like I saw this morning on FOX NEWS where a GI had taken pictures from his vehicle of Iraqi children standing by the side of the road. What that was supposed to represent I have no idea, but I'll bet the parents of the children were inside the houses loading up their AK47s and getting ready to strike the US patrol when it comes back down the same street. How can FOX NEWS continue to peddle this garbage is beyond me, but I think it is because they assume most of the people watching FOX NEWS were never in the service and don't know any better. FOX NEWS is right on that score. The FOX NEWS viewers are "laptop warriors" who never spent one day in the military so they are easily swayed by a story showing a GI taking pictures of Iraqi kids from a military vehicle as they roll down a street in Baghdad and they actually think this means things are getting better in iraq.

It is just not so, and to prove our point we have listed a series of events that have taken place in Iraq and Afghanistan on Memorial Day. You'll never see any of this reported on FOX NEWS.

Editorial Comment: By Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE, a former Army Combat Engineer veteran.

War News for Monday, May 26, 2008 (Click on each story in BLUE for further details)

Photo: A U.S. armoured vehicle burns at Al Canal street, near Sadr city, Baghdad, Iraq, after a roadside bomb exploded next to a U.S. military convoy, Monday, May 26, 2008, police said. There was no immediate U.S. Army confirmation regarding the blast.(AP Photo/Mahmoud al-Badri)
See photo here: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/

MNF-Iraq is reporting the death of a Coalition force Soldier in a roadside bombing in Salah ad-Din Province on Monday, May 26th. Two other soldier were wounded in the attack.NATO is reporting the death of a ISAF soldier in an explosion in southern Afghanistan on Sunday, May 25th. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack. The British MoD is confirming the death of a British soldier two kilometres north of Sangin, Kandahar Province.The AFP is reporting the death of a U.S. coalition soldier CJTF-101 in Afghanistan on Sunday, May 25th. No other details were released.
The AP reports the attack was in Farah province.The DoD is reporting a new death of a soldier from a hit-and-run driver while on leave from the Iraq theater of operations.

Pfc. Howard A. Jones, Jr. died in Chicago, Ill. on Sunday, May 18th.

The AFP is reporting the death of a soldier in a roadside bomb attack in Najaf, An Najaf Province on Sunday, May 25th. Two other soldiers were wounded in the attack. Reuters reports the attack was in Ash-Shamiyah district in Qadisiyah province.

Baghdad:#1: Another roadside bomb exploded near an Iraqi army checkpoint on the road that leads to the Baghdad International Airport, wounding five people, including one Iraqi soldier and four civilians, police said. The blast sent up a huge plume of black smoke and caused vendors at nearby kiosks selling soft drinks to run for cover.

#2: The U.S. military said Sunday that the number of attacks by militants in the last week dropped to a level not seen in Iraq since March 2004. About 300 violent incidents were recorded in the seven-day period that ended Friday, down from a weekly high of nearly 1,600 in mid-June, according to a chart provided by the military.

#3: Rising prices of food, energy and other commodities worldwide pushed up Iraq's inflation rate to 16 per cent last month, compared to 11 per cent at the beginning of this year, the country's central bank said.

#4: A roadside bomb detonated in a parking lot near a police station in Baghdad's northern neighborhood of Sha'ab, wounding nine people, the source told Xinhua on condition of anonymity. The blast destroyed a minibus and caused damages to several nearby civilian cars, the source said.

#5: A third roadside bomb struck a U.S. patrol in the al-Qanat Street near Baghdad's eastern neighborhood of Sadr City, leaving a Humvee on fire, he said. The source could not say whether the U.S. soldiers sustained casualties as the troops immediately cordoned off the area. The U.S. military did not confirm the incident yet.

#6: The Iraqi government has replaced some of the top officials in state-owned oil companies in southern Iraq, tightening its grip on an industry that fuels the economy but has been outside of its direct control. The shake-up, which has largely escaped public notice, affects industries in the southern oil hub of Basra. The Baghdad government has removed the heads of the South Oil Company, which is in charge of exports, the South Gas Company and the Iraqi Oil Tankers Company since mid-May, local officials and the Oil Ministry told Reuters.

Diyala Prv:#1: Suspected al-Qaida fighters also kidnapped Sheik Saleh al-Karkhi and his brother after blowing up his house in the village of Busaleh in the volatile Diyala province north of the capital, a police official said, declining to be identified because he wasn't supposed to release the information. The official, who read the report at the provincial military operations command center in Baqouba, said al-Karkhi was probably abducted because he had set up two awakening councils in the area and "took it upon himself to fight al-Qaida."

#2: Four shepherds disappeared along with their livestock on Monday in the desert areas in southwest Baaquba, an official security source said. "Four herdsmen disappeared today in the desert area in Baladruz, southwest of Baaquba," the source, who requested anonymity, told Aswat al-Iraq - Voices of Iraq. "Their families informed security authorities of their disappearance along with scores of livestock," he added.

Najaf:#1: A roadside bomb exploded in the al Shamiyah area south of Najaf at around 9 p.m. on Sunday. A source from the Iraqi army has told us that an American humvee was destroyed, a soldier was killed and two others were injured. US military said in an emailed reply that they confirm the new of the death of a coalition soldier.

Taza:#1: An ambulance driver and a policeman were wounded on Sunday when a roadside bomb exploded near an ambulance close to the town of Taza, 220 km (130 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.A driver of an ambulance and a civilian were injured when a roadside bomb exploded in Tuz Khurmatu town south of Kirkuk on Monday morning.

Tuz Khurmato:#1: A source in the Kurdish security forces (Asayish) said that a bomb exploded near the house of a Turkmen teacher in al Askari neighborhood in downtown Tuz Khurmatu south of Kirkuk city on Monday morning.

Tarmiya:#1: A suicide bomber on a motorcycle killed at least six members of a U.S.-backed neighborhood patrol and wounded 18 others on Monday, police said. The attack took place at a checkpoint in Tarmiya, a town just north of Baghdad.Those killed included a policeman, two awakening council guards and a civilian, according to the police. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to release the information.Mosul:#1: A grenade tossed at a police patrol wounded eight people, including one policeman, in central Mosul, 390 km (240 miles) north of Baghdad, police said.

Afghanistan:#1: In another incident Monday, two Afghan policemen were killed when Taliban militants ambushed their patrol with rocket-propelled grenades and gunfire in the central province of Ghazni, a district official said.

#2: Two Afghan security guards working for a US-owned security firm were wounded in a similar ambush in the same province on Sunday, deputy provincial police chief Mohammad Zaman said.

#3: Also Sunday, an Afghan security guard working for the same company, called USPI, was killed in an ambush in neighbouring Wardak province, a police commander said, also blaming the Taliban.

#4: United States drones have violated Pakistani airspace five times in North Waziristan. According to the Daily Times, unmanned US drones and fighter jets are spreading fear among residents. The US spy planes had been continuously violating the Pakistani airspace for the last four days. In Afghanistan, the fighter and unmanned planes of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) forces violated Pakistan’s airspace and intruded several kilometres inside North Waziristan tribal region on Sunday.

#5: Four Shiite Muslims were gunned down in a suspected sectarian attack in Pakistan's North-West Frontier Province on Monday, police said. The victims, all belonging to the same family, were traveling in a motor rickshaw when the assailants intercepted them on the outskirts of Dera Ismail Khan town, area police chief Salahuddin Khan Kundi said. A policeman was also shot dead when he challenged the attackers as they fled the scene, according to Kundi.

.Casualty Reports:Joseph Townsend, 22, lost both legs in a mine blast in Afghanistan earlier this year.

British.Pvt. Nathon Bagwell is now recovering from a gunshot wound he received in an April 27 attack on his platoon in Sadr City at Charlie Norwood VA Medical Center in Augusta. While he receives treatment for the damage done to his spine, has undergone numerous surgeries to repair the damage done when an enemy’s bullet pierced the left side of his stomach, damaged his intestines and his left kidney and shattered a vertebra in his lower spine. When he regains his strength, Bagwell will face another, 10-hour surgery that will reconnect his bladder and his left kidney, but his mother said that surgery will have to wait for another two to three months.

Private Liam Haven suffered wounds to his arm, neck and face when his Bushmaster Infantry Mobility Vehicle was struck by an Improvised Explosive Device in the early hours of the morning on Saturday, 17 May 2008. The 19 year old is assessed as being in a stable condition. The nature of his wounds remains medical-in-confidence. Australian

Additional editorial comment: And even after all of this, the mainstream media continues to say Iraq and Afghanistan are without any violence. How long will the mainstream media continue to LIE to the American public? We expect it from FOX NEWS because they are the mouthpiece of the Bush administration, but there is no legitimate reason the rest of the mainstream media ignores the TRUTH about Iraq and Afghanistan.

FOR WOMEN WARRIORS, DEEP WOUNDS, LITTLE CARE

THIS Memorial Day, as an ever-increasing number of mentally and physically wounded soldiers return from Iraq, the Department of Veterans Affairs faces a pressing crisis: women traumatized not only by combat but also by sexual assault and harassment from their fellow service members. Sadly, the department is failing to fully deal with this problem.

By HELEN BENEDICT
http://www.nytimes.com/2008/05/26/opinion/26benedict.html?_r=2&th=&oref=slogin&emc=th&pagewanted=print


Women make up some 15 percent of the United States active duty forces, and 11 percent of the soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Nearly a third of female veterans say they were sexually assaulted or raped while in the military, and 71 percent to 90 percent say they were sexually harassed by the men with whom they served.

This sort of abuse drastically increases the risk and intensity of post-traumatic stress disorder. One study found that female soldiers who were sexually assaulted were nine times more likely to show symptoms of this disorder than those who weren’t.

Sexual harassment by itself is so destructive, another study revealed, it causes the same rates of post-traumatic stress in women as combat does in men. And rape can lead to other medical crises, including diabetes, asthma, chronic pelvic pain, eating disorders, miscarriages and hypertension.

The threat of post-traumatic stress has risen in recent years as women’s roles in war have changed. More of them now come under fire, suffer battle wounds and kill the enemy, just as men do.

As women return for repeat tours, usually redeploying with their same units, many must go back to war with the same man (or men) who abused them. This leaves these women as threatened by their own comrades as by the war itself. Yet the combination of sexual assault and combat has barely been acknowledged or studied.

Last month, when the RAND Corporation released the biggest non-military survey of the mental health of troops since 2001, it unwittingly reflected this lack of research. The survey found that women suffer from higher rates of post-traumatic stress disorder and depression than men do, but it neglected to look into why this might be, and asked no questions about abuse from fellow soldiers. Terri Tanielian, the project’s co-editor, told me that RAND needs more money to explore these higher rates of trauma among women.

As the more than 191,500 women who have served in the Middle East since 2001 return home, they will increasingly flood the Veterans Affairs system. To ask those who need help for post-traumatic stress disorder to turn to a typical Veterans Affairs hospital, built in the 1950s and designed to treat men, is untenable. Women who have been raped or sexually assaulted often cannot face therapy groups or medical facilities full of men.

At the moment, the Department of Veterans Affairs operates only six inpatient post-traumatic stress disorder programs specifically for women. And although all 153 department-run hospitals will treat women, only 22 have stand-alone women’s clinics that offer a full range of medical and psychological services.

This number of clinics may seem adequate for the 1.7 million female veterans currently at home, especially since they represent only 7.2 percent of all veterans at the moment, but it isn’t. Many clinics are miles from where soldiers live, and many more are open only a few hours a week and lack staff members trained to deal with sexual assault, let alone assault combined with combat trauma.

The Department of Veterans Affairs says it plans to open more clinics for post-traumatic stress disorder, but how many will be only for women remains undecided.
Women are the fastest-growing group of veterans, and by 2020 they are projected to account for 20 percent of all veterans under the age of 45. Not all of these women will have suffered sexual assault, but many will have medical or psychological needs that conventional department hospitals cannot meet.

The Department of Veterans Affairs must open more comprehensive women’s health clinics, designate more facilities for women who have endured both combat and military sexual trauma and finance more support groups specifically for female combat veterans. The best way to honor all of our soldiers is to do what we can to help them mend.

Helen Benedict, a professor of journalism at Columbia, is the author of the novel “The Opposite of Love” and the forthcoming “The Lonely Soldier: The Private War of Women Serving in Iraq.”

MILITARY CHIEF WARNS TROOPS ABOUT POLITICS

WASHINGTON — The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff has written an unusual open letter to all those in uniform, warning them to stay out of politics as the nation approaches a presidential election in which the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan will be a central, and certainly divisive, issue.

By THOM SHANKER
THE NEW YORK TIMES

“The U.S. military must remain apolitical at all times and in all ways,” wrote the chairman, Adm. Mike Mullen, the nation’s highest-ranking officer. “It is and must always be a neutral instrument of the state, no matter which party holds sway.”

Admiral Mullen’s essay appears in the coming issue of Joint Force Quarterly, an official military journal that is distributed widely among the officer corps.

The essay is the first Admiral Mullen has written for the journal as chairman of the Joint Chiefs, and veteran officers said they could not remember when a similar “all-hands” letter had been issued to remind military personnel to remain outside, if not above, contentious political debate.

The essay can be seen as a reflection of the deep concern among senior officers that the military, which is paying the highest price in carrying out national security policy, may be drawn into politicking this year.

The war in Iraq has already exceeded the length of World War II and is the nation’s longest conflict fought with an all-volunteer military since the Revolutionary War.

(Editorial comment: This last paragraph sums up the problem in the United States. Only a handful of people have a vested interest in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and you can lay the blame squarely on the doorstep of the fact we don't have a military draft. If we had a military draft, you would see the media and the people of the United States a lot more interested in this war---Bill Corcoran, editor of CORKSPHERE)

VETS FOR PEACE BOOTED FROM MEMORIAL DAY PARADE IN DC

There is one group of veterans that isn’t allowed to march in the national memorial parade in Washington on Monday.

That’s the Veterans for Peace, Delwin Anderson Memorial chapter, based in D.C.

It’s named after a World War II vet who fought in Italy and then worked for the VA for many years designing programs for injured veterans.

The group had applied to join the National Memorial Day parade. And initially, anyway, it was accepted.

But then, late last month, the group was told that it didn’t meet the criteria to participate.The American Veterans Center, which runs the parade, told them “we cannot have elements in the parade that have any type of political message or wish to promote a point of view.”But other groups, like the American Legion, will be participating in theparade.

Its creed is to defend “God and country” and to “foster and perpetuate a100 percent Americanism.”And check out the list of major sponsors for the parade. They include:Lockheed Martin, Raytheon, the nation of Kuwait, the U.S. Army, and even the NRA.“We’re striving to keep political statements out of the parade,” says Jordan Cross, communications director of the American Veterans Center.“

Last year, we had two groups who supported the war, and we turned them down.”Cross says that when the American Veterans Center looked more closely at the Vets for Peace application and “saw what they were requesting, to carry a coffin in the parade, and all that jazz,” it decided not to let them participate.Michael Marceau, a wounded Vietnam vet, serves as vice president of theD.C. Vets for Peace group.

“We’re puzzled,” he said, adding that he felt“ very disrespected.”Caroline Anderson, the widow of Delwin Anderson, was supposed to ride inthe parade in a convertible. Bashful, she doesn’t want to talk about herself or on behalf of the Vets for Peace chapter. But she is not happy about the expulsion. “It’s a great disappointment,” she says, “to fee lthat other veterans would not allow them to be with them and march, just because they’re for peace.”

WOUNDED CBS REPORTER KIMBERLY DOZIER TELLS CNN'S HOWARD KURTZ HOW CBS EXECS REACT TO WAR NEWS

Anyone who has been following this blog knows I have been blasting the mainstream media for months for the lack of coverage of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars. The wars have literally dropped off the radar screen.

On Sunday, May 25, CBS war correspondent Kimberly Dozier, who was severely wounded in Iraq when a roadside bomb blew up the Humvee she was riding in killing her driver and two CBS News cameramen, went for a jog with CNN's Howard Kurtz, host of "Reliable Sources."

What came out of the interview was fascinating and informative. Dozier said the war has dropped off the news radar screen because when she would approach news executives with another story showing our brave young soldiers in combat in Iraq their eyes would glaze over.

The feeling Dozier expressed is the feeling Bill O'Reilly of Fox News once expressed when he said: "Once you've seen one roadside bombing or an IED going off it no longer becomes news. It is all so repetitive."

Here in part is the transcript from the Howard Kurtz interview with Kimberly Dozier:

http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0805/25/rs.01.html

SHIITE CLERIC AL SISTANI FORBIDS IRAQIS FROM SELLING FOOD TO AMERICANS IN IRAQ

This is just another indication of how the Iraqi people can't stand the United States and want the US military out of their country as soon as possible.

Shiite Cleric al-Sistani Forbids Iraqis From Selling Food To Americans In Iraq

Huffington Post May 25, 2008 03:04 PM
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/05/25/shiite-cleric-al-sistani_n_103493.html

Dick Cheney infamously said in March of 2003 that when the U.S. invaded Iraq, "we will be greeted as liberators." As the Iraq War enters its 6th year, Cheney's assertion has been shown as clearly false, with the U.S. battling a largely homegrown, Sunni insurgency and Shiite militias. In a sign of just how opposed some Shiite groups are to the U.S.'s presence in Iraq, one of the most powerful Shiite clerics in Iraq, Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani, has issued a fatwa forbidding Iraqis from selling food to Americans (from Juan Cole):

Fars News reproduces in Persian on May 24, 2008, another anti-American fatwa by Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani of Najaf. It says that its correspondent in Najaf reports that an Iraqi Shiite submitted the following to Sistani:

'I sell foodstuffs. Sometimes the Occupying Powers or their associates come to my establishment. May I sell them foodstuffs?'
Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani replied:

' Selling foodstuffs to the Occupying Powers is not permitted.'
Cole identifies another reason why this fatwa is important:

This fatwa is significant in light of the reports that Sistani has been orally permitting attacks on US troops by Shiite militiamen loyal to the Shiite religious authorities in Najaf.

VIDEO SURFACES OF CHENEY IN '94 SAYING INVASION OF IRAQ WOULD LEAD TO "QUAGMIRE"

A video of Vice President Dick Cheney warning in 1994 that an invasion and occupation of Iraq would lead to a quagmire has surfaced.

See for yourself what Cheney said:

http://www.infowars.com/articles/iraq/cheney_video_1994_warning_of_iraq_invasion_quagmire.htm

POLL FINDS AMERICANS HAVE LOW OPINION OF MILITARY HEALTH CARE

WASHINGTON — A majority of Americans believe that wounded troops don't receive high quality medical care in military and Veteran's Administration hospitals, according to a new Harvard School of Public Health poll.

By Federica Narancio McClatchy Newspapers
http://www.mcclatchydc.com/iraq/story/38419.html

Military families share that view, the poll found, and are slightly more pessimistic than non-military civilians when it comes to rehabilitation and mental health care. A reality check: Those polled didn't think care at major U.S. civilian hospitals was any better.

AL SADR LAWMAKERS DENOUNCE IRAQI GOVERNMENT--THE CALM BEFORE THE STORM

Warning of 'black clouds' on the horizon comes as government cracks down

The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24804885/

BAGHDAD - Lawmakers loyal to anti-U.S. cleric Muqtada al-Sadr accused the Iraqi government of trying to crush the movement and warned Saturday of "black clouds" on the horizon for truces that have eased fighting between al-Sadr's militia and security forces.

The Sadrist Movement has heightened its rhetoric against the government in recent days, raising concerns over the cease-fires in the southern city of Basra and Baghdad's Sadr City district, the stronghold of al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia.

Still, the lawmakers and other al-Sadr officials said they are adhering to the truces. The cease-fires are crucial to Iraqi security forces' sweeps in Basra and Sadr City, launched by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to show his government can spread its authority in areas long dominated by armed groups like al-Sadr's.

The new tensions were sparked when Iraqi troops in Basra attempted to break up a gathering in a northern square by firing over the heads of al-Sadr followers congregating for Friday prayers. Iraqi authorities recently banned al-Sadr gatherings in the square after a large cache of weapons was found nearby, police officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they feared retaliation.

Iraqi police in Basra said one person was wounded in the shooting, but al-Sadr officials contended that one person was killed and three wounded.

Sadrist lawmaker Hassan al-Rubaie said Iraqi forces also raided a mosque in the Baghdad district of Amil before prayers on Friday and arrested more than 350 worshippers.

"We see that there is a big nationwide conspiracy against Friday prayers. They (the government) fear it, because the Friday prayers will stand against the plots of our enemies," al-Rubaie told a press conference, referring to the anti-U.S. rhetoric common in prayer sermons run by al-Sadr loyalists.

ACTRESS JESSICA LANGE BASHES IRAQ WAR IN GRADUATION SPEECH

BRONXVILLE, N.Y. (AP) — Oscar-winner Jessica Lange bashed the Bush administration and denounced the war in Iraq during a commencement address at Sarah Lawrence College.

The star of "Tootsie" and "Blue Sky" was applauded by students Friday at the small liberal arts college after comparing the conflict with the Vietnam War. She said the graduates have "a heavy burden" to chart a new path for the country.

http://www.pennlive.com/newsflash/entertainment/index.ssf?/base/entertainment-10/121165255238830.xml&storylist=entertainment

"We are living in an America that, in the last seven and a half years, has waged an unnecessary war, established prison camps, condoned torture, employed corporate armies, eliminated the right of habeas corpus, practiced extraordinary rendition, and believe me, this is only a partial list," Lange said.

Lange asked the graduates, including her 22-year-old daughter Hannah Shepard, to commit themselves to the "pursuit of peace."

HERE ARE NAMES OF LATEST IRAQ CASUALTIES

Casualty Reports:
Source: http://warnewstoday.blogspot.com/
Click on "BLUE" for more details on each GI.


Marine Sergeant Shurvon Phillip, 27, was in Iraq's Anbar Province, in May 2005 was riding back to his base after a patrol when an anti-tank mine exploded under his Humvee. The Humvee's other soldiers were dealt an assortment of wounds: concussions, broken bones, herniated discs. Along with a broken jaw and a broken leg, Phillip suffered one of the war's signature wounds on the American side: though no shrapnel entered his head, the blast rattled his brain profoundly. A portion of the left side of his skull had been cut away to relieve the pressure of the casing of bone against his swelling brain. "His head," Ulerie said, "looked like a ball with the air half out of it." Piero and Clay Kelly, the hospital's chief of physical medicine and rehabilitation, explained that Phillip had hardly progressed from when he first arrived at the Cleveland facility; he remained in a nearly vegetative state and was seen as having, in the words of an evaluating neurologist, "little hope for improvement." But Piero said a system of nostril-flaring that Phillip mastered with his speech therapist had made him able last spring to respond reliably to yes-or-no questions. This breakthrough, Piero said, dissuaded the team from diminishing his physical work.

Michigan National Guard veteran Sgt. Michelle Rudzitis, 33, recounted losing her right leg to a roadside bomb in Baghdad, Iraq, on Jan. 22, 2007. Her Humvee was the only vehicle in a convoy struck by a bomb that hurls a piece of molten copper through steel. Two in the crew were killed and two were injured, including Rudzitis, whose right leg was severely damaged. Rudzitis, a former Farmington Hills resident who lives in Traverse City, said the Humvee's extra armor had been removed because it was to be refitted with new shielding. Her description of the injuries -- her eyelashes were fused by the blast so she could not open her eyes, and she woke up in a hospital with her leg amputated.

Army National Guard Sgt. Ralph McCallum, 23, it was June 2007 and he was riding in the gunner position atop a convoy’s scout truck as it traveled through southern Iraq. A roadside bomb hidden behind a lamppost suddenly detonated, knocking McCallum off the peak of the Humvee and inside the vehicle, which soon caught on fire.Rescuers pulled him from the burning Humvee, but he came away with deep lacerations on the left side of his head as well as his left forearm, and the radial tendon in his right hand was sliced. Three soldiers inside the fortified vehicle suffered concussions.

Spc. B.J. Jackson of the Iowa National Guard woke up at Brooke Army Medical Center after he lost both legs and was severely burned by a land mine in Iraq.

Jacob "Jake" Knospler. Jake is a 26-year-old Marine. This great Marine and American served two tours in Iraq. In 2004, while fighting in Fallujah, he was injured when an enemy grenade put a hole in his cheek and upper jaw. The right side of his brain was injured and he was partially blind and deaf. There were other injuries to his body. He already had 22 surgeries.

U.S. Army Spc. Matt McCool suffered multiple skull fractures and a concussion from a bomb in Iraq in late March. McCool was treated at Walter Reed National Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C. and at the Palo Alto Polytrauma Rehabilitation Center. He later returned home.

Army veteran Rob Kislow lost his lower right leg in a firefight in Iraq two years ago

VIDEO: SEVEN VETERANS UNDER VA'S CARE COMMIT SUICIDE

This short video is just one of many telling how the Department of Veteran Affairs is failing miserably in treating veterans returning from Iraq and Afghanistan, and unfortunately many of them end up committing suicide.

When you watch this video just remember this is being repeated in hundreds of VA hospitals all across America.

It is hard to believe the VA can't take care of our veterans, but the Bush administration last month send $15 BILLION DOLLARS to the Iraqi government, and now the Iraqi government can't account for the money.

How did the United States ever allow two evil men like George W. Bush and Dick Cheney get us into this horrible mess in Iraq?

Watch video here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PuZfWo-JKBY

VIDEO: KEEP HOLDING ON 399TH COMBAT SUPPORT HOSPITAL

A video musical tribute to the men and women of the 399th Combat Support Hospital in Iraq.

They do so much and get so little credit and are totally forgotten by the rotten mainstream media in the United States.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OU7RB6pNoPk

VIDEO: LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO THE CHILDREN OF IRAQ PRESIDENT BUSH

One can only wonder if President Bush or Vice President Cheney ever stop to look at what they have done to the children of Iraq. Probably not. They really don't care. This graphic video shows the results of Bush and Cheney's war on the little children of Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DrySL0cAaN4

VIDEO: CHILDREN OF WAR! MUSIC BY MOEIN

This moving video with music by Moein is a sad but realistic tribute to the war that President Bush and Vice President Cheney unleashed on the Iraqi people for absolutely no reason at all.

Iran had absolutely NOTHING to do with 9/11 and everyone who has an IQ over 75 knows it.


http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ir5-fPRwfsI

VIDEO: OZZY: BLACK RAIN: BLOODY BLACKWATER

Do President Bush and Vice President Cheney have any idea what they have unleashed on the people of Iraq? I doubt it. And on top of that, I don't think either one of them care.

This video shows the hell Bush and Cheney brought on the Iraqi people and their children.

Music by Ozzy with graphic footage.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M78oltQCDCU

VIDEO: TELL ME WHY: CHILDREN VICTIMS OF BUSH'S WAR

While President Bush lounges at the White House or his ranch in Crawford, Texas, this video shows EXACTLY what he has done to the children of Iraq.

Enjoy your Memorial Day, President Bush.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6dNg9vKsHmw

VIDEO REPORT: WILL SISTANI END THE IRAQ WAR?

Pepe Escobar, the award-winnng journalist with THE REAL NEWS NETWORK , explains how the Grand Ayatollah ali-Sistani is about to issue a fatwa which would demand all US troops leave Iraq immediately. In this video, Escobar walks you through exactly what is taking place behind the scenes in Iraq and how the Sistani may be the ONLY person who can end this horrible war.

http://therealnews.com/t/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=31&Itemid=74&jumival=1556&updaterx=2008-05-24+11%3A45%3A47

15 BILLION DOLLARS IN IRAQ SPENDING UNACCOUNTED FOR

The US government is not only pouring young men and women down the drain in Iraq, but now a report indicates $15 BILLION dollars given to Iraq cannot be accounted for.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080523/pl_afp/usiraqmilitarybudget

WASHINGTON (AFP) - The Pentagon cannot account for nearly 15 billion dollars in payments for goods and services in Iraq, according to an internal audit which members of Congress blasted Friday as a "shocking" accountability failure.

Of 8.2 billion dollars in US taxpayer-funded defense contracts reviewed by the defense department's inspector general, the Pentagon could not properly account for more than 7.7 billion dollars.

US COMPANIES WILL DIVVY UP IRAQ CONTRACTS

WASHINGTON – Sometime soon, a group of American corporate executives and military leaders will sit down and divide Iraq into three parts.

JAMES RISEN; The New York TimesLast updated: May 24th, 2008 01:25 AM (PDT)
http://article.wn.com/view/2008/05/24/Companies_will_divvy_up_Iraq_contract/?section=TopStories&template=cheetah-search%2Findex.txt

Their meeting will not have anything to do with Iraq’s national sovereignty, but instead will involve slicing up billions of dollars in work for the defense contractors that support the U.S. military presence in the country.

For the first time since the war began, the largest single Pentagon contract in Iraq is being divided among three companies, ending the monopoly held by KBR, the Houston-based corporation that has been accused of wasteful spending and mismanagement and of exploiting its political ties to Vice President Dick Cheney.

Yet even as the Pentagon begins to pull apart the enormous KBR contract, critics warn that the new three-company deal could result in higher costs for American taxpayers and weak oversight by the military. In fact, under the new deal, KBR and the two other companies could make more than three times as much as KBR has been paid each year since the war began.

Last month the Pentagon awarded the companies pieces of a new contract to provide food, shelter and basic services for American soldiers, a 10-year, $150 billion deal that stretches far beyond the final days of the Bush administration.

KBR will still get a sizable chunk of the business, but now it will have to share the work with Fluor Corp. and DynCorp International.

Army officials and executives of the three companies are planning to meet in the next few weeks to start the complex process of breaking up KBR’s sprawling operations in Iraq. KBR, previously a subsidiary of Halliburton, once headed by Cheney, has collected more than $24 billion since the war began. It has 40,000 employees in Iraq and 28,000 more in Afghanistan and Kuwait.

But KBR has come under fire from Congress and Pentagon auditors for complaints ranging from making more than $200 million in excessive charges to delivering unsafe water to American troops, to doing little to prevent sexual assaults of its female employees, often by their KBR co-workers.

SUNNI PREACHER LASHES OUT AT BUSH, US OFFICIALS OVER KORAN SHOOTING INCIDENT

Even after President Bush and the US military issued an apology for a GI using the Koran for target practice, the Iraqi people are in a rage over the incident. The latest to protest the shooting even after Bush apologized is on the on the Sunni preachers who lashed out at Bush and the US officials.

Sunnis condemn sniper's Quran shooting
Iraqi preachers’ angry response follows apologies by Bush, U.S. officials

The Associated Press
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24792627/

BAGHDAD - Sunni preachers on Friday denounced the shooting of a Quran, Islam's holy book, by a U.S. sniper in Iraq following a series of apologies by American commanders and President Bush.
The use of Islam's holy book for target practice has triggered an angry response in Iraq and protests in Afghanistan as U.S.-led forces work to maintain their alliance with Sunni Arabs who have turned against al-Qaida in Iraq.
"The enemies of Islam have launched their campaign against Islam and the Prophet Muhammad and recently against the holy Quran," said Sheik Omar Mohammed during his sermon at a Sunni mosque in Baghdad.
"A bullet that might have shot at an Iraqi believer, was directed toward the holy Quran instead," Mohammed said. "Do not think this is a defeat for us, but it will create enthusiasm to stand up more for this religion."
Sniper disciplinedThe U.S. military said Sunday it had disciplined the sniper and removed him from Iraq after he was found to have used the Quran for target practice May 9. Iraqi police found the bullet-riddled book two days later on the field of a firing range in a predominantly Sunni area west of Baghdad.
Bush apologized to Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki for the incident after several U.S. military officials tried to soothe anger over the shooting, particularly among Sunni Arabs who have become key allies in the fight against insurgents.
A NATO soldier and two civilians were killed Thursday during a violent demonstration in western Afghanistan over the incident. But there has been relatively little protest in Muslim countries despite fears of a repeat of the worldwide violence sparked by similar perceived insults against Islam, including Prophet Muhammad cartoons published in Denmark.
The imam of Abu Hanifa, the main Sunni mosque in Baghdad, also condemned the shooting and criticized the leaders of fellow Muslim states for not speaking out against it.
"We Muslims condemn the act committed by this malicious person and at the same time we express our regret that Muslim leaders all over the world did not condemn this crime ... it indicates their weakness and cowardliness," Sheik Dawood al-Alusi said.

CNN REPORTS: ROADSIDE BOMB IN ANBAR PROVINCE INJURES 7 MARINES

The Bush administration and FOX NEWS have been bragging about how "the surge" has made Anbar Province almost a Garden of Eden, but on Saturday seven US Marines were injured when a roadside bomb exploded near their convoy in Anbar Province.

Roadside bomb in Iraq injures 7 Marines
Story Highlights
Seven Marines wounded by roadside bomb in Falluja, U.S. military says
Civilian interpreter killed, two Iraqi police officers injured in blast
Attack occurred at checkpoint manned by Iraqi police, U.S. troops

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/23/iraq.main/index.html

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- Seven U.S. Marines were wounded by a roadside bomb that also wounded two Iraqi police officers and killed a civilian interpreter in the Anbar province city of Falluja Friday morning, according to the U.S. military.
The Iraqi Interior Ministry earlier called the attack a suicide car bombing and said that one of its police officers were killed.
An Interior Ministry official said it happened at a checkpoint normally manned by Iraqi police and U.S. troops.
Also on Friday, a suicide bombing outside police headquarters in Falluja wounded four police officers, the official said.
Falluja had been a stronghold for insurgents in the early days of the Iraqi war but is now a center for the "awakening," which opposes al Qaeda in Iraq.
U.S. and Iraqi military operations have chased many al Qaeda in Iraq cells out of Anbar province, according to military accounts.
Those militants have now gained control in other areas, such as Nineveh province, and security forces have embarked on an offensive against them there, officials say.
A U.S. soldier was killed Thursday in a roadside bombing southwest of Baghdad, the U.S. military said Friday, bringing the number of U.S. military personnel killed in Iraq to 4,080.

25th INFANTRY DIVISION-FIRST STRYKER BRIGADE--COMBAT VIDEO WITH MUSIC FROM IRAQ WAR

This weekend we honor past war heroes with Memorial Day, but there are war heroes still fighting in Iraq and Afghanistan and this video with music depicts just one unit---the 25th Infantry Division, First Stryker Brigade as they battle in Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RC0PiFRuBWI

w

MARINES IN FALLUJAH---GRAPHIC VIDEO OF THE BATTLE FOR FALLUJAH

The mainstream media is hyping that the Iraqi Army is moving into Sadr City to take control of it over the enemy combatants, but what the mainstream media is not telling the American public is that the war has again shifted to Fallujah where this video footage with music of Marines fighting to bring control to Fallujah was shot. WARNING: Graphic language and pictures.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bzu3RV-vtSQ

RAT TEAM MUSIC VIDEO FROM IRAQ WAR---COMBAT ENGINEERS

I was a Combat Engineer in the US Army during the Korean war and I thought this video was an especially great tribute to the Army Engineers on this Memorial Day weekend. Far too many Americans have no idea what our brave young men and women are going through in Iraq. The mainstream media, and especially cable news stations, no longer cover the Iraq war and IMO that is not only a shame, it is a crime and an insult to every young person serving our country and their families back in the United States.

For those reasons we present this outstanding VIDEO;
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6sep63Dv2Gs

LONELY TRAIN-A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO THOSE WHO AREN'T HOME ON THIS MEMORIAL DAY

While Americans all across the United States gather for cookouts and family get togethers, this video shows another side of American life of our young men and women engaged in combat in Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P1SagJ8Xgkg

COMBAT IN IRAQ. VIDEO WITH MUSIC

The mainstream media in the United States doesn't want Americans to know there is still a war going on Iraq, but we refuse to be intimidated by the media and will continue to show what our brave young men and women face every single day in Iraq.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ed8WrcR_NnI

BLAZE OF GLORY--A VIDEO TRIBUTE TO OUR FIGHTING MEN AND WOMEN IN IRAQ

Perhaps it is time to stop on this Memorial Day weekend and remember the men and women who are still fighting every single day to try and bring democracy to Iraq. They may be an Army of occupation, but they are still engaged in combat operations.

This video spells out in vivid footage what it is like to be in the Iraq war zone.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ODIa2qnuZ4w

NEW VIDEO:US COMPANY IN IRAQ ACCUSED OF MALPRACTICE

Most of you have heard about how US companies are making money hand over fist from the Iraq war. Many of them use former US military officers as lobbyists. This NEW video gives you a birds eye view of how one company is using the Iraq war to reap huge profits.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hLO6fticUK8

WASHINGTON POST: SURGE IN US AIR STRIKES IN IRAQ. SAVES TROOPS LIVES BUT MANY CIVILIANS KILLED

In Iraq, a Surge in U.S. AirstrikesMilitary Says Attacks Save Troops' Lives, but Civilian Casualties Elicit Criticism

By Ernesto Londoño and Amit R. PaleyWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, May 23, 2008
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052203869.html

CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- From an Apache helicopter, Capt. Ben Katzenberger's battlefield resembles a vast mosaic of tiny brown boxes.

"The city looks like a bucket of Legos dumped out on the ground," the 26-year-old pilot said. "It's brown Legos, no color. It's really dense and hard to pick things out because everything looks the same."

He uses a powerful lens to zoom in on tiny silhouettes, trying to identify people with "hostile intent" among hundreds of ordinary citizens in Baghdad.

In recent weeks, Katzenberger and other pilots have dramatically increased their use of helicopter-fired missiles against enemy fighters, often in densely populated areas. Since late March, the military has fired more than 200 Hellfire missiles in the capital, compared with just six missiles fired in the previous three months.

The military says the tactic has saved the lives of ground troops and prevented attacks, but the strikes have also killed and wounded civilians, provoking criticism from Iraqis.

On Wednesday, eight people, including two children, were killed when a U.S. helicopter opened fire on a group of Iraqis traveling to a U.S. detention center to greet a man who was being released from custody, Iraqi officials said.

The U.S. military said in a statement that it had targeted men linked to a suicide bombing network. "Unfortunately, two children were killed when the other occupants of the vehicle, in which they were riding, exhibited hostile intent," the statement said.

U.S. officials say they go to great lengths to avoid harming civilians in airstrikes.

Click on link to read full account.

SENATE PASSES NEW GI BILL 75-22 GIVING VETS BETTER EDUCATIONAL BENEFITS. MCCAIN DIDN'T SHOW UP FOR VOTE

Senate Passes Senator Webb's GI Bill, 75 to 22 - Bill is Now Veto Proof

See list of Senators who voted against the bill at end of this story.

Republican Presidential candidate Sen. John McCain didn't show up for vote. He was attending fund raising events.

http://www.veteransforcommonsense.org/ArticleID/10193

May 22, 2008, Washington, DC – U.S. Senator Daniel K. Akaka issued the following statement today regarding his votes in favor of passage of amendments to the Emergency Supplemental Appropriations bill (H.R. 2642):

“I am delighted that Senate approved the New GI Bill for the 21st Century that I worked closely with Senator Webb to develop.

This measure would establish a new program of educational assistance for veterans and service members. Sadly, President Bush, who sent our troops into war and is again requesting billions of dollars to pay for it, has threatened to veto this measure.

“Today, I extend my personal pledge to Senator Webb and all who support a revitalized GI Bill. If bill is vetoed and Congress fails to override the veto, I will bring Senator Webb’s New GI Bill before the Veterans’ Affairs Committee during our markup next month and urge that the Committee favorably report it to the Senate.

It is time to give those young servicemembers, stepping forward voluntarily and putting themselves in harm’s way, an opportunity for quality educational assistance. We must make good on our promise of an education in return for serving honorably in our military. I am committed to seeing this legislation become law.”

Akaka is Chairman of the Senate Committee on Veterans’ Affairs and Chairman of the Senate Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support. He is a veteran of World War II and was a beneficiary of the original WWII GI Bill. -END-

25 Senators Failed to Support GI Bill for Veterans:
NAYs ---22Alexander (R-TN)Allard (R-CO)Barrasso (R-WY)Bennett (R-UT)Brownback (R-KS)Bunning (R-KY)Burr (R-NC)Cochran (R-MS)Corker (R-TN)Cornyn (R-TX)DeMint (R-SC)Ensign (R-NV)Enzi (R-WY)Graham (R-SC)Grassley (R-IA)Gregg (R-NH)Hatch (R-UT)Kyl (R-AZ)Lugar (R-IN)McConnell (R-KY)Sessions (R-AL)Voinovich (R-OH)
Not Voting - 3Coburn (R-OK)Kennedy (D-MA)McCain (R-AZ)

US TAXPAYER MONEY GOES DOWN THE DRAIN IN IRAQ

We knew it was bad in Iraq, but we never knew there was this much corruption going on in Iraq and it is costing the US taxpayer BILLIONS of dollars.

This is just a small sample of the corruption going on in Iraq with the new US-backed government.

It is mind-boggling to think schools, roads and health care in the United States are in dire need of help and yet the Bush administration continues to pour more and more money into the failed strategy to turn Iraq into a democracy.


Corruption costs Iraq $4 billion annually. $8.8 billion the U.S. gave the Iraqi government cannot be fully accounted for. More than 20% of the government’s Ministry of Interior staff are “ghost employees”—nonexistent workers who collect paychecks. As much as 30% of Iraq’s refined oil ends up on the black market or is illegally taken out of the country. The U.S. government says the insurgency raises $25 to $100 million a year smuggling oil. $9 billion in oil revenues has been lost, almost as much as Saddam Hussein stole from the U.N. Oil-for-Food program over five years.

http://www.motherjones.com/news/featurex/2007/03/bill_me_later.html

With Friends Like These41 cents of every dollar of American reconstruction money is spent on the Iraqi military or police. 3 cents goes to “democracy building.” A newly recruited Iraqi soldier makes $60 a month. Iraqi units report that half of their soldiers go awol when sent to new combat areas. The Pentagon says it’s trying to instill “a more deployable mindset.” Of the 323,000 members of Iraq’s security forces, 1/3 are considered “technically proficient” and only 10,000 are “politically dependable.” American trainers report that 70% of the police force has been infiltrated by militias. 90,000 rifles and 80,000 pistols supplied to the Iraqi security forces cannot be accounted for.

Click on link to read more if you can stomach it.

GRADUATING HIGH SCHOOL STUDENTS WITH A PARENT IN IRAQ ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN

High school in wartime sets soldiers' kids apart

By KRISTIN M. HALL, Associated Press Writer 24 minutes ago
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080523/ap_on_re_us/iraq_war_grads

When Evelyn Burwell put on a cap and gown to accept her high school diploma, she knew someone wasn't in the audience — her dad.
The 18-year-old's father is serving in Iraq, like so many other parents of her classmates at Fort Campbell High School, the largest high school on an American military base. His service has meant missing two of his children's high school graduations, countless anniversaries and birthdays, and this year, his daughter being crowned prom queen.
"You don't even have to explain it most of the time; everybody feels the same way," said Burwell.
Burwell and the other students here understand their parents' sacrifice, and there is an unspoken bond that allows them to vent their frustrations about the war and deployments. They may be graduating like millions of others across the country this spring, but their memories of school life in wartime set the class of 116 teenagers apart.
Most had at least one parent gone on lengthy deployments in Iraq or Afghanistan. Former classmates have gone on to fight, some dying in service. Students have watched as uniformed soldiers came to neighbors' homes to notify families of war deaths.
Burwell's father, Lt. Col. Dave Burwell, was able to watch his daughter graduate on a special Internet broadcast in Iraq. He hopes she and his other children understand why he couldn't be there.
"I pray that my children will understand and appreciate that the sacrifices that they made during my years of deployment and service helped secure a bright future for their generation," he said in an e-mail interview from Iraq.
The wars in Iraq and Afghanistan mean thousands of American teenagers have grown up without a military parent at home. Studies have shown that military family adolescents are very adaptive to deployments but are still prone to school performance problems or signs of depression.
Every student at Fort Campbell High has a parent in the military, and most of them grow up the moment a soldier mom or dad steps out the door. They take on extra chores at home, look after younger siblings, work jobs and set aside their own desires.
"Now I have to step up, be the man, take on the responsibilities," says Josh McWherter, whose dad listened to him win the AA football state championship on the radio while deployed in Iraq. "I didn't get the time I wish I could have had if he had been home for me to grow into those responsibilities, but I feel like I've done a pretty good job."
Outside Fort Campbell High, the surrounding base bustles with activity as Humvees and trucks rumble past and the "Screaming Eagle" emblem of the 101st Airborne waves prominently on a flag at the school's entrance.
Administrators know that problems at school can be intensified by a parent's deployment. Teachers often act as counselors, adjusting to an individual student's individual needs. But Fort Campbell High operates just like any other high school, and rules don't get bent just because a student has a deployed parent.
"So if they come in and act out, that's where our job really gets to be out of the cookie cutter recipe," said principal David Witte.
McWherter says he doesn't use his dad's absence as an excuse for bad grades or getting stressed out.
"If we're going to use that as an excuse, why couldn't the whole school?" he said, shrugging. "I feel like you have to be responsible."
Deployed parents make Fort Campbell students more aware of the war than their counterparts at nonmilitary high schools. Witte said the class was brought even closer together by the deaths in Iraq and Afghanistan of two former classmates, Pfc. Ron Joshua Jr. and Pfc. Timothy Vimoto, last summer.
Vimoto graduated in 2006 while Joshua spent two years at Fort Campbell High before transferring to a school in Texas. The two soldiers were honored by friends, teachers and coaches at a tearful memorial service at the school only weeks before graduation.
"When you know the people, it's different than just hearing the news say another soldier died," said Jesse Naputi, 17, a linebacker on the football team that Vimoto helped lead as a student manager. "That was your friend: you've got memories of him, you used to eat lunch with him, you used to play football with him, you were close. When they are gone, it's not just another statistic."
Darrissa Dodson, 17, said every death on the base creates stress among soldiers' children. She recalled coming home after middle school one day and seeing two uniformed soldiers walking to a neighbor's house, thinking it was odd that recruiters were visiting a home where only women lived.
"But then I stayed outside for a minute and I saw the girls run outside," Dodson said, her eyes welling with tears as she recounted the memory. "They were crying and saying, 'No, no, not us. It's the wrong person.' I realized that their dad had died and they had just found out. So that was hard on me and I didn't even know them."
The students voice little resentment over being without a parent during a time of war.
"My father doesn't do an everyday job," Naputi said. "Coming from a military childhood, it makes you that much more stronger. And that's going to help me along in life. I wouldn't want to change it, to tell you the truth. It's something different — I'm proud of it."

NEWS ALERT: US AIR STRIKE KILLS 8 IRAQI CIVILIANS

The US military in Iraq wants to do everything possible to hold down casualties of US troops as we approach the election in the United States so air strikes have been stepped up, but for all the ballyhoo about "precision bombing" the air strikes are anything but "precision" and the latest "precision bombing" killed 8 Iraqi civilians, including two children.

BEIJING, (Xinhuanet) -- An overnight U.S. air strike hit a village in Iraq's Salahudin province, killing eight civilians, including two children, a provincial police source said on Thursday.

http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2008-05/22/content_8229702.htm

The incident occurred when U.S. troops conducted a search operation late on Wednesday in the Mazra'a village near town Beiji, some 200 kilometers north of Baghdad, the source told Xinhua.
Colonel Mudhher al-Qaisi, police chief in the town of Beiji, said the attack was on a group of shepherds in a vehicle in a farming area. Relatives said some of those killed were fleeing on foot after the U.S. military arrived in the area.
"This is a criminal act. It will make the relations between Iraqi citizens and the U.S. forces tense. This will negatively affect security improvements," Qaisi told Reuters. A U.S. military spokeswoman, Lieutenant-Colonel Maura Gillen, said the helicopter fired on the vehicle after observing "suspicious activity." She said the driver had ignored warnings to stop.

MICHAEL SAVAGE IS MOST SAVAGE SHOCK JOCK OF ALL

The Most Savage Shock Jock of Them All

Savage once owned the Communist bookstore "City Lights" in San Francisco.

By Rory O'Connor and Aaron Cutler, AlterNet BooksPosted on May 23, 2008, Printed on May 23, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/86237/

Who is Michael Savage? On its surface the question seems obvious: he's a 66-year-old nationally syndicated conservative talk radio host whose program, The Savage Nation, airs five days a week from its home base of KNEW in San Francisco. He's the founder of the Paul Revere Society, which, according to its mission statement, aims to "take back our borders, our language, and our traditional culture from the liberal left corroding our great nation." He's a former MSNBC cable television talk host who was red after four months on the job after he told a phone caller, "You should only get AIDS and die, you pig." He's also the third most popular radio talk show host in America, whose weekly audience of more than eight million listeners is surpassed only by Limbaugh and Hannity.

Dig deeper, however, and the question of who Savage is, and how truly savage he is, becomes far more complicated. "Savage" isn't his real name; it seems to speak to his heightened sense of masculinity, his aggression, and his antipathy toward minorities. Born Michael Alan Weiner, "Savage" is the child of Russian-Jewish immigrants. He earned two master's degrees and a Ph.D. in nutritional ethnomedicine from that liberal bastion the University of California, Berkeley. He's written two dozen books, five as Michael Savage and an additional 19 under his given name, on medicine, the subjects of which range from maintaining a healthy diet to breaking a cocaine habit. But by any name, he professes to know what's good for you.

Before the vitriolic monologist emerged, there was another, kinder and gentler Michael. This one roamed Greenwich Village and the Bay Area in the early 1970s, kept a weathered copy of On the Road in his back pocket, and lay on the beach with the renowned beat poets Allen Ginsberg and Lawrence Ferlinghetti whenever he wasn't working on stand-up comedy routines. He guarded Timothy Leary's LSD supply, and he even once posed naked in a photograph with Ginsberg, a well-known and very public homosexual, which he distributed among friends in an attempt to prove himself part of the counterculture. At some point, however, more than 25 years ago, something took a sinister turn and, like Prince Hal rejecting Falstaff, Savage suddenly disavowed his former friends. In a 2006 interview for SF Weekly, Savage explained, "I was once a child; I am now a man." In the same interview, he said of Ginsberg, "I looked at him almost like a rabbinic figure. Little did I know that he was the fucking devil." For Savage, rejecting his old friends was simply a part of growing up.

The moralist, the healer, and the hedonist -- there's a tension between his three identities, which interact like a trio of siblings elbowing each other for seconds at the dinner table. As one listens to his conservative radio talk personality, one is moved to question whether it's his true self, not because Savage isn't consistent in his views, but because the views are so grotesque it's difficult to believe that anyone-let alone a former beatnik-could espouse them with a straight face. While it's more than passing strange for a homophobic, conservative radio host to work out of San Francisco, Savage continues to broadcast nationally from his base in the city he likes to call "San Fran Sicko."

Savage is so extreme that even many of his fellow right-wing talk radio personalities don't like him. Bill O'Reilly calls him a "smear merchant," while Neal Boortz refers to Savage as "the Antichrist." Although Talkers Magazine recently bestowed its annual Freedom of Speech award upon Savage, publisher Michael Harrison says he thinks the man is "an asshole." Liberal advocacy organizations such as GLAAD and ACLU have censured him. Liberal media watchdog groups have compiled long lists of the especially inflammatory remarks Savage has made-many of which must be heard or seen in print to be believed. Collectively they justify the cautionary statement that is read by an announcer before each edition of The Savage Nation.

Click on link to read full story.

US TURNS TO AIR STRIKES IN IRAQ TO SAVE GI LIVES, BUT CIVILIAN CASUALTIES MOUNT

The US military command in Iraq has switched tactics and are now using more and more air strikes in a calculated move to save the lives of ground troops as we grow closer to the election.

In Iraq, a Surge in U.S. AirstrikesMilitary Says Attacks Save Troops' Lives, but Civilian Casualties Elicit Criticism

By Ernesto Londoño and Amit R. PaleyWashington Post Foreign ServiceFriday, May 23, 2008; A10
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/22/AR2008052203869_pf.html

CAMP TAJI, Iraq -- From an Apache helicopter, Capt. Ben Katzenberger's battlefield resembles a vast mosaic of tiny brown boxes.
"The city looks like a bucket of Legos dumped out on the ground," the 26-year-old pilot said. "It's brown Legos, no color. It's really dense and hard to pick things out because everything looks the same."

He uses a powerful lens to zoom in on tiny silhouettes, trying to identify people with "hostile intent" among hundreds of ordinary citizens in Baghdad.

In recent weeks, Katzenberger and other pilots have dramatically increased their use of helicopter-fired missiles against enemy fighters, often in densely populated areas. Since late March, the military has fired more than 200 Hellfire missiles in the capital, compared with just six missiles fired in the previous three months.

The military says the tactic has saved the lives of ground troops and prevented attacks, but the strikes have also killed and wounded civilians, provoking criticism from Iraqis.

BREAKING NEWS: BLAST ROCKS FALLUJAH

The city of Fallujah has been hailed by the Bush Administration their mouthpiece FOX NEWS as a model of how well "the surge" is working, however early Friday morning a blast ripped through a government building in Fallujah and large plumes of smoke could be seen rising from the city.

It is too early to tell if there were any casualties or who set off the bomb.

Source: http://www.aswataliraq.info/look/english/article.tpl?IdLanguage=1&IdPublication=4&NrArticle=80107&NrIssue=2&NrSection=1

HOLLYWOOD IS BECOMING THE PENTAGON'S MOUTHPIECE FOR PROPAGANDA

"Liberal Hollywood" is a favorite whipping-boy of right-wingers who suppose the town and its signature industry are ever-at-work undermining the U.S. military. In reality, the military has been deeply involved with the film industry since the Silent Era. Today, however, the ad hoc arrangements of the past have been replaced by a full-scale one-stop shop, occupying a floor of a Los Angeles office building. There, the Army, Navy, Air Force, Marines, Coast Guard, and the Department of Defense itself have established entertainment liaison offices to help ensure that Hollywood makes movies the military way.

By Nick Turse, Tomdispatch.comPosted on May 22, 2008, Printed on May 23, 2008

http://www.alternet.org/story/86093/

What they have to trade, especially when it comes to blockbuster films, is access to high-tech, tax-payer funded, otherwise unavailable gear. What they get in return is usually the right to alter or shape scripts to suit their needs. If you want to see the fruits of this relationship in action, all you need to do is head down to your local multiplex. Chances are that Iron Man -- the latest military-entertainment masterpiece -- is playing on a couple of screens.
For the past three weeks, Iron Man --a film produced by its comic-book parent Marvel and distributed by Paramount Pictures -- has cleaned up at the box office, taking in a staggering $222.5 million in the U.S. and $428.5 million worldwide. The movie, which opened with "the tenth biggest weekend box office performance of all time" and the second biggest for a non-sequel, has the added distinction of being the "best-reviewed movie of 2008 so far." For instance, in the New York Times, movie reviewer A.O. Scott called Iron Man "an unusually good superhero picture," while Roger Ebert wrote: "The world needs another comic book movie like it needs another Bush administration... [but] if we must have one more... 'Iron Man' is a swell one to have." There has even been nascent Oscar buzz.

Click on link to read full story.

WE HAVE MILITARY DEATHS BY YEAR, MONTH, NAMES AND CAUSE OF DEATH SINCE START OF IRAQ WAR

To see the names, hometowns, month of death and cause of death of each soldier killed in the Iraq war since the start of the war click on the month and year in "BLUE" and then click on each name also in "BLUE."

This is the most comprehensive list of names, hometowns, and cause of death of every single GI killed in Iraq you will ever see.

Source: http://icasualties.org/oif/

Military Deaths By Year/Month
Period

US
UK
Other
Total
DayCount
Avg
Total
4079
176
136
4391
1891
2.32
5-2008
14
0
2
16
22
0.73
4-2008
52
0
0
52
30
1.73
3-2008
39
1
0
40
31
1.29
2-2008
29
1
0
30
29
1.03
1-2008
40
0
0
40
31
1.29
12-2007
23
1
1
25
31
0.81
11-2007
37
2
1
40
30
1.33
10-2007
38
1
1
40
31
1.29
9-2007
65
2
2
69
30
2.3
8-2007
84
4
0
88
31
2.84
7-2007
79
8
1
88
31
2.84
6-2007
101
7
0
108
30
3.6
5-2007
126
3
2
131
31
4.23
4-2007
104
12
1
117
30
3.9
3-2007
81
1
0
82
31
2.65
2-2007
81
3
1
85
28
3.04
1-2007
83
3
0
86
31
2.77
12-2006
112
1
2
115
31
3.71
11-2006
70
6
2
78
30
2.6
10-2006
106
2
2
110
31
3.55
9-2006
72
3
2
77
30
2.57
8-2006
65
1
0
66
31
2.13
7-2006
43
1
2
46
31
1.48
6-2006
61
0
2
63
30
2.1
5-2006
69
9
1
79
31
2.55
4-2006
76
1
5
82
30
2.73
3-2006
31
0
2
33
31
1.06
2-2006
55
3
0
58
28
2.07
1-2006
62
2
0
64
31
2.06
12-2005
68
0
0
68
31
2.19
11-2005
84
1
1
86
30
2.87
10-2005
96
2
1
99
31
3.19
9-2005
49
3
0
52
30
1.73
8-2005
85
0
0
85
31
2.74
7-2005
54
3
1
58
31
1.87
6-2005
78
1
4
83
30
2.77
5-2005
80
2
6
88
31
2.84
4-2005
52
0
0
52
30
1.73
3-2005
35
1
3
39
31
1.26
2-2005
58
0
2
60
28
2.14
1-2005
107
10
10
127
31
4.1
12-2004
72
1
3
76
31
2.45
11-2004
137
4
0
141
30
4.7
10-2004
64
2
2
68
31
2.19
9-2004
80
3
4
87
30
2.9
8-2004
66
4
5
75
31
2.42
7-2004
54
1
3
58
31
1.87
6-2004
42
1
7
50
30
1.67
5-2004
80
0
4
84
31
2.71
4-2004
135
0
5
140
30
4.67
3-2004
52
0
0
52
31
1.68
2-2004
20
1
2
23
29
0.79
1-2004
47
5
0
52
31
1.68
12-2003
40
0
8
48
31
1.55
11-2003
82
1
27
110
30
3.67
10-2003
44
1
2
47
31
1.52
9-2003
31
1
1
33
30
1.1
8-2003
35
6
2
43
31
1.39
7-2003
48
1
0
49
31
1.58
6-2003
30
6
0
36
30
1.2
5-2003
37
4
1
42
31
1.35
4-2003
74
6
0
80
30
2.67
3-2003
65
27
0
92
12
7.67

US DEFENDS JAILING CHILDREN IN IRAQ

US defends detention of children in Iraq

Wed May 21, 9:13 AM ET
http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080521/wl_mideast_afp/unusiraqprisonchildren_080521131319
GENEVA (AFP) - The United States on Wednesday defended its detention of around 500 minors in Iraq, saying it had developed an "extensively robust" programme to meet the special needs of child combatants.

"The US does detain juveniles that are encountered on the battlefield," said Sandra Hodgkinson, deputy assistant secretary at the Department of Defense.

"We go to great lengths when we do detain juveniles to recognise the special needs of the juvenile population and to provide them with a safe environment away from hostilities," she told journalists.

CBS NEWS: VETS RETURN FROM IRAQ WITH LUNG DISEASE

Iraq War Vets Return With Lung Disease

May 22, 2008
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/05/21/health/webmd/main4114714.shtml

(WebMD) Some U.S. soldiers returning from the war in Iraq are bringing lung disease home with them. A new study shows a large group of Iraq War veterans has been diagnosed with bronchiolitis, a type of lung disease that affects the small airways of the lung.

It causes shortness of breath and/or rapid and labored breathing. "All of the soldiers evaluated were physically fit at the time of deployment. On return, none of those diagnosed with bronchiolitis met physical training standards.

In almost every case they were declared unfit for duty and were medically boarded with a service connected disability," says researcher Robert Miller, MD, assistant professor of pulmonary and critical care medicine at Vanderbilt University, in a news release.

Bronchiolitis is associated with many conditions, such as toxic inhalation, infection, and rheumatoid arthritis. But researchers say these results suggest that exposure to toxins during the Iraq War may also need to be considered as a risk factor for unexplained breathing problems. "Bronchiolitis needs to be considered in Iraq War veterans presenting with unexplained shortness of breath on exertion," says researcher Matthew King, MD, of Vanderbilt. Lung Disease Risks Researchers evaluated 56 soldiers from Fort Campbell, Ky., for symptoms of lung disease. Initial evaluations with lung function tests, chest X-rays, and other imaging showed no major signs of lung disease.

But biopsies of lung tissue confirmed a diagnosis of bronchiolitis in 29 of 31 Iraq War veterans referred for biopsy. Most of those diagnosed with bronchiolitis had prolonged exposure to sulfur dioxide from a sulfur mine fire near Mosul, Iraq, in 2003; others had no reported specific risk factors for lung disease. The U.S. Department of Defense says the Mosul sulfur fire was deliberately set and considers it a combat-related event. Researchers say it was the largest man-made release of sulfur dioxide.

FAMILY REPORTS OHIO SOLDIER KILLED BY ROADSIDE BOMB IN IRAQ

Family reports soldier killed by roadside bomb in Iraq

OHIO MAN WAS IN 101ST AIRBORNE DIVISION

ASSOCIATED PRESS
Lexington Herald-Leader
http://www.kentucky.com/779/story/411152.html

The father of a 101st Airborne Division soldier says his son was killed by a roadside bomb in Iraq.

Bill Haunert of Blue Ash, Ohio, said his son Branden, 21, enlisted in the Army last year and his unit was deployed to Iraq about five weeks ago.

The Defense Department has not confirmed the identification. The Army often waits at least 24 hours after a family is notified to announce a service member's death.
Branden Haunert was a 2005 graduate of Sycamore High School in suburban Cincinnati, where he played baseball, and attended the University of Cincinnati before enlisting. His father said military representatives told the family Sunday that the Humvee Branden Haunert was in was hit by a roadside bomb, and that he died at the scene.
The entire Haunert family is "devastated," Bill Haunert told The Cincinnati Enquirer on Monday. "His brothers are taking it pretty hard."
Bill Haunert said he and his wife, Tammy, have five other sons.
Bill Haunert said Branden wanted to serve his country.
"He knew he'd probably be going to Iraq," his father said. "He was doing what he wanted to do."
Branden Haunert joined the Army in the summer of 2007 and went through basic training at Fort Benning, Ga., before being assigned to the 327th Infantry, 2nd Battalion, 101st Airborne Division at Fort Campbell, an Army post on the Kentucky-Tennessee border.
His father said he was doing well in the Army.

WASHINGTON POST: WHAT WILL FOX NEWS SAY NOW? PETRAEUS AGREES WITH OBAMA ON TALKING WITH IRAN

Fox News has been going ballistic over Barack Obama's statement he would negotiate with Iran before making any decisions about a military solution to the problem.

Brit Hume and all the Bush White House sycophants at FOX NEWS have been saying there must be pre-conditions spelled out before meeting with the leader of Iran.

However, General David Petraeus said at his confirmation hearing for leader of U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia he was all for talking with the Iranian leader and not using military force.

Army Gen. David H. Petraeus, President Bush's nominee to lead U.S. forces in the Middle East and Central Asia, supports continued U.S. engagement with international and regional partners to find the right mix of diplomatic, economic and military leverage to address the challenges posed by Iran.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/21/AR2008052103007.html

In written answers to questions posed by the Senate Armed Services Committee, where he will testify today, Petraeus said the possibility of military action against Iran should be retained as a "last resort." But he said the United States "should make every effort to engage by use of the whole of government, developing further leverage rather than simply targeting discrete threats."

Petraeus's views echoed those expressed by Defense Secretary Robert M. Gates, who this month said that talks with Iran could be useful if the right combination of incentives and pressures could be developed.

Despite President Bush's repeated commitment to diplomacy to resolve problems with Iran -- including its activities in Iraq, an alleged nuclear weapons program and support for terrorist groups -- some lawmakers and U.S. allies remain concerned that military action is being contemplated.
Click on link to read full story

3 KILLED IN AFGHANISTAN AS RESULT OF SHOOTING OF QURAN

KABUL, Afghanistan - One NATO soldier and two Afghan civilians were killed Thursday when protests in Afghanistan over the shooting of a Quran by a U.S. soldier turned violent, officials said.NATO spokesman Maj. Martin O'Donnell said demonstrators were protesting near a military airfield in western Ghor province and began to throw rocks and set tents on fire. Police opened fire on demonstrators when the protest became violent, killing two civilians and wounding seven others, he said. Gunfire killed one NATO soldier and wounded another, but it was not clear who shot at them, O'Donnell said.
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/24774048/

CNN REPORTS: US "REGRETS" KILLING TWO IRAQI CHILDREN

BAGHDAD, Iraq (CNN) -- The U.S. military "sincerely regrets" that it killed two children in a helicopter attack on militants linked to a suspected al Qaeda in Iraq leader, a colonel with Multi-National Force-Iraq said Thursday.

http://www.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/meast/05/22/iraq.main/index.html

The U.S. military is investigating the operation against insurgents in northern Iraq's Salaheddin province, just south of Baiji, it said in a statement Thursday.

An American chopper struck cars near a farm late Wednesday, killing eight people, including two children, Baiji police said. The U.S. military said the children were in a vehicle with militants.
The operation targeted al Qaeda in Iraq militants operating a weapons storage facility, Multi-National Force-Iraq said in its statement.

The militants "were believed to be associated with a suicide bombing network," the military said.
"Sensitive intelligence further indicated that these individuals were directly associated with a suspected senior [al Qaeda in Iraq] foreign terrorist facilitator," the military said. "Unfortunately, two children were killed when the other occupants of the vehicle, in which they were riding, exhibited hostile intent."

The military "sincerely regrets when any innocent civilians are injured that result from terrorists locating themselves in and around them. We take every precaution to protect innocent civilians and engage only hostile threats," MNF-I spokesman Col. Jerry O'Hara said.

MEDIA DOESN'T TELL AMERICANS 45 IRAQIS KILLED AND 33 WOUNDED WEDNESDAY

The mainstream media in the United States feels it is not important enough to let Americans know that on Wednesday, May 21 45 Iraqi civilians were killed and another 33 wounded.

Wednesday: 45 Iraqis Killed; 33 Iraqis Wounded
Updated at 11:45 p.m. EDT, May 21, 2008

http://www.antiwar.com/updates/?articleid=12880

As Sadr City remained relatively quiet, neighboring Baghdad saw a number of attacks. Overall, at least 45 Iraqis were killed and 33 more were wounded in the latest violence. No Coalition deaths were reported.
In Baghdad, five dumped bodies were recovered. Eleven people were killed and another three were wounded in a combined I.E.D. and gunfire attack in the Obeidi neighborhood near Sadr City; the attack was on joint Iraqi and U.S. troops, but the casualties were all bystanders. In Mansour, four people were killed and 12 were wounded in two attacks that took place an hour apart. Four people were wounded during a bombing on Palestine Street. A transportation ministry official was assassinated while on the Qasim highway. Yesterday, three people were killed and two were wounded during a mortar attack in Karrada, while an I.E.D. killed one person and wounded four more in Adhamiyah. A judge was severely injured by a bomb attached to his car. Also, 33 people were detained during security operations.
Sadr City remains peaceful today as Iraqis test a cease-fire between the Mahdi Army and Iraqi security forces. Small issues are being dealt with diplomatically. No violence has been reported as Iraqi troops found and confiscated or defused a number of weapons.
Seven bodies were found in al-Abara.
Three bodies were found in Buhriz.
Gunmen attacked a checkpoint run by Kurdish security personnel in Jalawla. Four of them were killed and three were wounded. The attackers fled. Fifteen people were detained in separate incidents across town; two detainees were later found dead.
A kidnapped child was freed near Nasariya.
Three people were detained and a weapons cache was confiscated in al-Gabba.
In Diyala, 112 detainees proved their innocence and were freed.
A female suicide bomber killed four people and wounded three others in Rutba.
In Mosul, four women and two children were freed and their kidnappers arrested.

WHAT THE MEDIA DOESN'T TELL YOU ABOUT LIFE IN BAGHDAD

Has life in Iraq improved? With pools of open sewage in the streets and little electricity, life for most Iraqis remains bleak.

By Anna Badkhen
http://www.salon.com/news/feature/2008/05/21/services/print.html

May. 21, 2008 May 20: Trash pickup in most of Baghdad ended with the rule of Saddam Hussein. Now the garbage chokes the capital's streets and clogs the sewage pipes and canals, which overflow and burst.

The sewage that leaks out of broken pipes seeps through the dirt of roads that were once paved, but now have mostly turned to dirt because the tracks of American tanks and Bradley fighting vehicles have destroyed the asphalt over five years of war.

Above the roads, low-slung electric wires hang like an enormous web woven by some apocalyptic spider, strung from street generators to poles to homes, from one street to the next. Yet, most Baghdadis receive less than four hours of electricity a day. Running water, too, is a rare commodity. As far as safety is concerned, a quiet neighborhood is one where gunfire and explosions are something residents only hear, not see.

But whenever American soldiers ask the locals how they live, the Iraqis' first response is typically: Much better, thank you.

Then they list the basic services they do not have.
"They say it's better, but I wonder if it's really better," muses Maj. Kelly Dickerson, a U.S. Army reservist and a civil affairs officer who is trying to help the 4-64 Armor Battalion of the 4th Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division reinstate basic services in southwestern Baghdad. Dickerson's current project is to bring sewage-pumping trucks into the lowlands of Risala, a Shiite militant stronghold where stagnant lakes of raw sewage flood squares and streets. The idea that having human waste pool outside one's home is somehow a sign of progress doesn't sit well with Maj. Dickerson.

Better compared to what? I ask. Better compared to 2003, when sewage was still mostly consigned to pipes and canals?

Or better compared to 10 months ago, when stray dogs were feasting on the dead bodies of victims of sectarian bloodshed, which were left to lie in the streets for days? If you ask a patient who has just come out of a coma how he's doing, he will probably say that he's much better, thank you -- never mind that he is connected to IVs and a respirator and is missing a leg.

MEDIA FAILS TO REPORT US TROOPS KILL 11 IRAQI CIVILIANS

The media continues its relentless "blackout" on all news coming out of Iraq which would in any way make the United States look bad.

US troops have killed 11 Iraqi civilians, but you will never read or hear a word about in the mainstream media in the United States.

U.S. shoots 11 in Iraq, police blame snipers

REUTERSReuters North American News Service
http://wiredispatch.com/news/?id=178960

BAGHDAD, May 21 (Reuters) - The U.S. military said its troops shot dead 11 militants in eastern Baghdad on Wednesday, but police and several residents said at least some of the dead were civilians killed by U.S. snipers.

There were conflicting accounts of the shootings in different parts of the Obaidi district close to Sadr City, the main stronghold of anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr where Iraqi troops backed by tanks have launched an operation to take control of the streets.

The U.S. military said all those killed were members of "special groups", military jargon for rogue units of Sadr's Mehdi Army militia accused of receiving funding and training from Iran.

MEDIA DOESN'T REPORT THIS: US HELICOPTER STRIKE KILLS 8 IRAQI CIVILIANS

In their rush to paint a picture of how well everything is going in Iraq, the media in the United States keeps "spiking" any story that would make the US look bad in the eyes of the Iraqis and the world.

This is a perfect example of a news story totally ignored by the mainstream media in the US.

US helicopter strike kills eight civilians in Iraq
Baiji's police chief brands US strike as ‘criminal act’ that will negatively affect Iraq security.

http://www.middle-east-online.com/english/?id=26036

BAGHDAD - US helicopters attacked two cars near a town northwest of Baghdad and killed eight civilians, including two children, local police said on Thursday.

The strafing by two US helicopters occurred near the town of Baiji on Wednesday evening, a police official said, adding that the bodies of six people were mutilated beyond recognition.

"This was an incident last night involving coalition forces that resulted in civilian casualties," the US military said in a statement. "The incident is under investigation."

It added that the military regreted the loss of innocent civilian lives.

Baiji's police chief, Colonel Mudhher al-Qaisi, said the civilians were shepherds who were in a farming area in the town when the strike took place.